earlier in Aldeburgh

Despite the filthy weather (and our word wasn't it windy on the Aldeburgh front last night) a very decent house in the Jubilee Hall for Justin and the Argonauts.  The five handed cast tackle a multiplicity of characters (our favourites were the Scottish hand maidens) and musical numbers.  Common Ground's tour continues tomorrow at the New Wolsey Studio Ipswich.

On our way home two people in front of the Aldeburgh cinema were wringing a rug out ...

05:02pm: The A1904 Aldeburgh Road is closed near the B1069 junction for Knodishall and Leiston because of a serious road accident.

The trick to finding the Aldeburgh Community Centre (a local community centre for local communities) entrance is it's round the back.  Once we'd worked that out we found it crammed with help organisations and charities though the police easily had the mostest and bestest freebies.  Organiser PCSO Terry Barrow told us the day had been doubly useful with not only the public but organisations finding out about each other ... depressing though to discover that even a place like Aldeburgh has a food bank and rough sleepers.

If you don't know who Edwyn Collins is you'll probably know this if only from the M&S ads.  In 2005 he suffered two near death cerebral haemorrhages but at the Aldeburgh documentary film festival yesterday for a showing of The Possibilities Are Endless about his recovery he entered employing a walking stick and an energetic hobble that was life affirming rather than disempowering.  At the sound check it was a joy to hear his basso chest voice as full as ever. ♫

We anticipated that Aldeburgh last night would be awash with creatively attired trick or treaters but to catch the light perhaps we were too early and at first could only find DP's bar being Halloween decorated (their Halloween party is tonight).  A street light was doing it's best to look moody in the surprisingly busy town when we stumbled over two trick or treat parties who both said they'd only just started ... so we finished.

There's much bollo about children's nanny Vivian Maier but she was an impressive street photographer and surprisingly seemed able to do it in isolation.  Finding Vivian Maier 3pm tomorrow at Aldeburgh Cinema might show how she formed herself as a snapper.

As best we could make out peering over people's heads (security had apologetically moved us on from the ramp up to the Coop Daily) yesterday's Aldeburgh carnival parade had a samba/Brazilian theme.  We thought it pretty impressive but our visiting guest from the east of a large town wanted to know where all the black people were (there were a handful) and why it was all so quiet (no sound systems).  Afterwards there was a packed food village by the boating pond (though we were a little disappointed by our lamb samosa), donkey rides and a twinkling traditional whirligig.

Why does it not surprise us that Aldeburgh bowls club use a Daily Mail cd as a bird scarer?

♫ Last night we booked tickets to see the Carolina Chocolate Drops at this month's Aldeburgh Proms, not much choice as it had almost sold out ... four shows including Ladysmith Black Mambezo and the Uke Orchestra are RETURNS ONLY already ...

Some house sales in Framlingham, Earl Soham (including what was Thorolds the corner shop), Woodbridge, Saxmundham and Aldeburgh.

Very flatteringly Aldeburgh Music is following us on Twitter ... perhaps it was us being nice about Musicircus?

♫ In Aldeburgh yesterday we got see the Broadside Boys for the first time and though they weren't dressed Suffolk their anthem Suffolk Punch was suitably and rousingly patriotic.  They were part of the Aldeburgh Festival's Musicircus which is maybe a 100 bands of absolutely all flavours playing close by each other along the front and it is absolutely all flavours; school choirs, string quartets, ukes, a Hendrix wannabe, a folk quartet with the melody taken by children's tinkle bells, three vibraphones and a drummer playing latin-american ... absolutely everything and it was wonderful.

♫ At the Maverick concert in Aldeburgh last Friday solo Morgan O'Kane had become a four piece with spoons, a fluegelhorn and a suitcase kick drum (just l♥ve those suitcase drums) plus for support the bafflingly wonderful Stompin' Dave Allen.  One of Maverick's delights is being introduced to performers you probably wouldn't catch a bus to see and then are a revelation.  This Friday it's Madison Violet who nominally are a pretty girl duo but who knows? they may have transmogrified into a 22 piece marching band ...

Our latest house sales report shows sales almost totally stationary in Aldeburgh but perambulating in Saxmundham.