There's a delightful folksiness about the small ads you can find adorning the noticeboards of your local convenience store; the missing pet section, that old sofa that would look just right in your spare room if only it were recovered (with BBQ fuel and ignited), the part worn tyres, if you're lucky a battered Sony PS2 with a bunch of games that were tired 5 years back, never mind in the face of the latest from EA. It's all very cosy, all that old tat out there to be had for a song. You also get these sort of ads, the ones where, for the sake of a little experience, you can be out there with the in crowd, strutting your funky stuff.

Guess I won't be getting that phone call then...

It's not every day you get to give your better half a public declaration of devotion, but that's what I managed this evening. We're over in Bahrain as a bit of a treat for our 9th wedding anniversary (yesterday) and staying once more at the Diplomat up in the DQ area of Manama. As is our won't, we were down in the Fiddlers' Green where The Boxtones are playing once more (must find out when they leave). They were asked to come up with something suitable for an "old married couple" and chose Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours". Nice choice I thought.

So far, we've always enjoyed them as they really do seem to enjoy what they're doing and are far from mechanical in their performances. This evenings' stand out performances were a song we've never heard before (last one on first set) and a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Freebird' on which Gary pulled off an absolutely blazing guitar solo. I've no idea how much longer they'll be here in Bahrain, but I'm hoping this won't be the last time we'll see them.

Now how do I get them into Riyadh for Salwa Rocks?