A little taste of hedonism

I met some interesting people at last night's ICA event. Tamara Tyrer is co-founder of The Whoopee Club. She looks 18 but assured me that she celebrated her 30th birthday only last week. She brought with her four dancers who entertained us with their burlesque routines. There is a fine line between 'art' and, er, stripping but Tamara insisted that this was 'art'. Actually it was quite tame - these girls would have been equally at home at a vicar's tea party.

Another guest was musician Alexander M. who also looked absurdly young. By coincidence, Alex is the brother of Will Mayor whose company Livewire Design is developing the new Free Society website. Alex's band is the grandly named Alexanders Festival Hall. As I was leaving he gave me a CD with some of their songs. I'm listening to it now. He's also part of Baxendale - spot the Pet Shop Boys' influence!

Less engaging was 'Soho artist' Sebastian Horsley. Wearing a shocking pink suit he certainly stood out from the crowd, but saying "FUCK" loudly, aggressively and often isn't hedonistic, it's just boring. This self-styled dandy claims to have  slept with over 1,000 prostitutes at a cost of £100,000. I don't have a problem with that. I do have a problem with someone who, when he was no longer centre stage, declared, very loudly, that he was "bored" and wanted to go home. No-one was stopping him.

PS. Entering into the spirit of the occasion, I had my first taste of what I was told was laudanum. It tasted rather like port. Perhaps it was port. I'll never know. But I'd like to think that it wasn't.