Rock cover band Piston Broke play live at O'Donoghue's in Wakefield, playing everything from AC/DC to Thin Lizzy.

Not much warning of a UKnot meet but we did have a few people there. Includes an unexpected paparazzi shot of Matt Berry who played Dr Sanchez in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.

My goodness, there was takeaway cassoulet - truly I am in foodie heaven!

Ellie and Fluff were having a lovely cuddle on the sofa watching telly together and I had to get a picture of it. Ben insisted that photos were taken of him, and I had a bit of a play.

Angie Barrow of ANY-Web and Fotopic.net hosted a dinner party for domain speculators and other Internet businessmen. The wine flowed freely, Nok cooked an excellent dinner, and we all proffered opinions on the state of the current dotcom market.

Some skyline views taken on a late Summer's day, from the 9th-floor flat in Putney Bridge.

Matt Johnson predominantly performs for a small group in Harry's Bar, with a singer friend of his who wasn't too bad. Apart from the f1.2 85mm pics, Neal popped round with his f1.8 28mm lens again and the battery grip.

Crunch! And down the last piece comes...

Rock cover band Full Tilt play at O'Donoghue's pub in Wakefield - the only band I've seen to include use of a Black & Decker drill in their set!

A few test shots out and about with the latest rented lens.

The day finally came - Wakefield Market Hall crashed to the ground around 9pm last night and this was the scene in the light of Saturday morning. From the Vicarage Street side it looks intact, the light from the windows being the only thing giving it away. Brook Street is certainly much lighter now!

Paleday performed as part of FeedMeMusic.co.uk's "Messin' Up The Weekend" event at London's Astoria 2 venue in Soho. They performed a 30-minute set including the new song 'Flirty' to a packed crowd who loved every moment. Great disco from one of the best bands on the gay scene.

As part of FeedMeMusic.co.uk's "Messin' Up The Weekend" showcase night, 15-piece band Royal Showdown took to the stage with performers including a string quartet and a brass section. Good tunes reminiscent of Alphabeat and Jamiroquai.

Prior to the Paleday gig at London's Astoria 2, there was the soundcheck. Lots of waiting around, very little light so it was a good opportunity to see what the f1.2 85mm lens could handle: the result was a very moody set of images but shot mostly at f1.2 ISO100 with a 1/60 shutter speed, taken right up until the call to go on-stage at around 8pm.

With Wakefield Old Market Hall due to be demolished in the next few days, these will probably be the last set of photos I take while it's still standing. The fleur-de-lys on the side of the hall has been taken down, as has any other memento of value around the building.

The hole's got bigger and the rubble pile has got a little larger - not to mention the distinct lack of glass in one side of the market hall now.

Nicky popped into my office at lunchtime and said "fancy a pint in London?", so we got on a train and went to have beer at The Market Porter in Borough, inviting a pile of friends for a rather drunk and debauched night!

Nicky learns to wallpaper a particularly difficult and annoying pattern of fairies, clouds and stars.

The old fish/meat market is gone, and the old market hall has a huge hole in the side. If you go round the back, you can see daylight as the floor's been knocked out already. Not great photos, principally due to boarding being erected to shield the public gaze but I'll get some better ones when I don't have one of the children with me.

American man-with-a-guitar Doug (aka The Fabulous Doug) gave me an opportunity to try the f2.8 lens in a gig atmosphere. The results aren't very good, but at least I had a pint and a nice chat.

I spent lunch hour trying out the f2.8 lens in the Cathedral. Not many shots but you get the idea.

The kids helped Nicky to get the old wallpaper off Ellie's bedroom wall, in preparation for decorating this weekend.

Aside from a fun trip to the National Railway Museum, we visited to see a production of The Railway Children which starred Nicky's cousin Robin. Quite coincidentally, we bumped into most of the Meese family who had also turned up to the performance!

Family time - Nando's was the destination since Ellie requested chicken for lunch and I'd got a loyalty voucher for free food. Then off to try and buy a gas hob (and failing miserably) but acquiring Darth Kettle (and you know the rules - if you name an appliance you *have* to buy it).

Sara came over from Barcelona to visit prompting an ex-Gemmie meet-up with Jess and Achim. Me and Sara were the only ones left by about 10pm and we went on the hunt for a cup of tea, stopping off at the old Gemstar office at Blacklands Terrace to see what it was like and if anyone was occupying it. Seems a bit empty to be honest!

An unexpected visit to the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival at Earl's Court with Seb, Will and Subhi. We bumped into Matt and his family so I got to play with his 450D a little bit. Sadly not many photos because my own G9 ran out of batteries and I'd left the spare battery in the hotel room - bah!

The Mechanical Music Museum at Kew Bridge are in their new building, although sadly the Wurlitzer isn't in action yet (still being rebuilt). The family - and Colin - went to see what it's like now: Nicky played a pianola, the children assisted with pressing buttons, and I stroked the Wurlitzer console. Mmmm, Wurlitzer...

The first real test - linking up the blower to the windchest and checking for leaks. Most came from the base which wasn't screwed in properly, but the top seemed quite airtight - hooray! These photos show the unit upside down: the wind supply ingress is on the bottom, and the pipes are mounted on the top.

It's not often we get invited to parties nowadays thus we jumped at the chance to go to Sarah and Nairn's housewarming in Richmond. The children partied hard, the wine was flowing, and we got to chat to some really nice people.