Hello folks. It's been a while between innings, but that doesn't mean we've been sitting around (the video blogs attest to that methinks).

Last Friday was our final London show for this tour. Another night at the new Marquee Club, and a fine show it was too. Stripped back versions of Three Cool Cats, some freaked out musical meanderings in Money and a really nice version of Hey Rain made it a memorable show. As did the many Aussie friends, English pals and at least one new Spanish acquaintance. We've played in some of London's coolest small venues in our time here. The Troubadour, The Bedford and The Barfly (Camden) have all hosted some brilliant bands over the years and it's been great to have a chance to take the stage there. I think we're all looking forward to a show at the good old Empress Hotel though- it's up there with some legendary venues when it comes to atmosphere and…y'know, Mabo, Wik...the vibe

We've done a bit of travelling over the last few weeks too. Swindon was a two hour train ride away (that was a great little acoustic show), Cornwall an eight hour drive (where we learned why Londoners call the M25 a "slow-moving carpark") and we've just returned from Liverpool in the nation's north-east. No gig in Liverpool for The Basics, but certainly a bit of fun discovering the city's Beatle-related sites on the bus-based Magical Mystery Tour. I found Strawberry Fields pretty magical, with its red wrought-iron gates and green overgrowth shrouding the path behind. You could see why a young Lennon would have been enamoured with the place, living so close nearby. Seeing the bank, barber shop and square at the north end of Penny Lane about which McCartney wrote was cool too. Being a tourist is fun, and despite the merchandising and exploitation of every possible Beatles-related article and anecdote, I was struck a number of times by the power of how their music touched so many people across the world. There were Aussies, Englishmen, Phillipinos, Italians, Swedish and Germans on the bus!

In other news, I slipped on a huge dog turd out the front of Paul McCartney's childhood home, where apparently over 100 Beatles songs were written. If that isn't a sign of good things to come, then maybe I should clean my shoes

Norway beckons now. Our friends over there reckon there's quite a bit of interest in our one and only show, which is nice to hear (hopefully it's true). We're only there for three days, so our trek won't encompass a Fjordian trip, but we're looking forward to exploring as much of Oslo as possible in our time

Love to y'all reading and following our exploits OS. Looking forward to returning to Oz in October. Our return tour of the east coast is almost finalised. Keep your eyes peeled for posters and zeppelins with details

Love

Uncle Willy, Herr Schroedinger and Fantapants