A cat's-eye view...

Lessons in life learnt this week....

2007-06-29T17:09:00.000+01:00

1. Thou shalt not drink Berocca any less than 5 hours before going to see doctor, incase you have to provide a urine sample - if this occurs you have to spend many minutes reassusuring said doctor that the luminousity of your sample is perfectly safe and not radioactive in the slightest.

2. Immediately after having a blood test at which 5 test tubes of blood have been siphoned from your system, thou shalt not partake of a large extra shot latte unless thou intend to spend rest of day feeling extremely dizzy and slightly sick. Chocolate minirolls are not enough to combat the effects of aforementioned caffeine intake.

Ways to avoid the office #53

2007-06-03T17:01:00.001+01:00

So, yesterday I was mostly being mistaken for a terrorist! We had the afternoon all planned out - drive up to work, drop off some stuff we need to take with us next week, do some work, head back home....but oh no....

Instead we ended up spending just over 2 hours on Whitehall, as B's car decided to totally die around 50 metres from Trafalgar Square, in the inside lane of rather busy traffic - how popular were we?! After duly informing the police and calling the breakdown recovery people we chilled out and enjoyed the sunshine and the view as there wasn't a lot else we could do! After an hour or so a couple of police officers appeared, but not, as we assumed, in a response to our call...nope, the car had been logged on cctv and they thought we were a bomb, so we were rather brusquely ordered out of the car! Once we established the actual situation with them, and managed to convince them that we were in no way remotely explosive, they were most friendly and helped us move the car to a side street where we had to wait another hour or so for the recovery guy (grrr!)

Whitehall Place
Originally uploaded by purplecatster.

Soon after we were merrily on our way again, the car having been fixed (blown fuel pump fuse), so we did a smash and grab at the office, returning home with our laptops but abandoning all ideas of work.... instead opting for bbq and pimms on the balcony - hurrah!

Topic of the Day (at risk of sounding like I'm 12 years old or something...!)

2007-05-12T15:05:00.000+01:00

Boys are rubbish. Discuss.

Look! A new post!

2007-04-14T13:22:00.000+01:00

So I've managed to beat my own length between posts record....and your point is?! My main excuse is work, the busyness of which has meant that a. I haven't had much time for blog writing, and b. even if I had, all I'd have to blog about is the fact that I've been very busy at work!

Aside from the usual splattering of gigs, and a couple of cinema trips (Science of Sleep, Hot Fuzz and Inland Empire - a diverse selection, but I recommend them all, despite the fact that I think I was the only person in the cinema who didn't hate Inland Empire!) not a lot else has happened...

Had a lovely weekend in Upton-upon-Severn at the beginning of March for the Winchurst christening, at which I was very excitingly made godmother of Molly, and found a new favourite word...

And now I'm impatiently counting the days until the May bank holiday weekend for reasons that shall remain undisclosed for now, until more certainty can be shed on the situation!

And now I'm going to resist the urge to play with my new steam cleaner (ooh the glamour and excitement of my life!) and instead go and enjoy the sunshine in CNL's new garden - and I've been told I'm allowed to make fire - whoo hoo!

RTG's

2007-02-20T17:19:00.000Z

I went to see the Guillemots at Brixton Academy on Friday, and whilst I found the band to be rather dull I did have a rather amazing experience!

Those of you who have frequented gigs with me in the past will know that I seem to have a mysterious magnetism as far as tall people coming to stand in front of me are concerned....we think we have a safe spot, the band's about to come on, and suddenly....whoosh.... the requisite tall person slides in out of nowhere to take (usually) his place directly in front of me, thus blocking my view for the majority of the gig...

And indeed the same thing happened on Friday - we came in by the stage, found a suitably clear area, and 30 seconds before the band came on, suddenly, as if by magic the RTG (requisite tall guy) appeared...and in this case he was rather wide as well...

But then, to my right I spotted a group of merry midgets, to which I sidled over, stood behind and enjoyed an uninterrupted view of the show....so I would just like to say (and I apologise for any un-pc-ness here, but...) Hurrayfor midgets! I am seriously thiking about starting a 'More Midgets at Gigs Campaign'.... butmaybe that's a bridge too far...

More Snow!

2007-02-11T17:59:00.001Z

Snow!
Originally uploaded by purplecatster.

So I sadly wasn't in Herne Hill to capture the snowy loveliness of Brockwell Park last week, but I did manage to take a couple of pics from the train, on my way back home from Southampton...

Snow!

2007-01-24T21:19:00.001Z

Herne Hill snow
Originally uploaded by purplecatster.

So incase you didn't know, it snowed in London last night - awww, deosn't Brockwell park look lurvly....

Better late than never...

2007-01-23T15:52:00.000Z

So Happy Christmas, Merry New Year n' all that jazz to all and sundry out there! I'm not entirely sure how it has got to be the 23rd of January already, and am even less sure what exactly has occurred since my last post, but here we are...well and truly immersed in all things 2007...

Having been back at the office for a whole week after our Christmas break, I then took a week off (from which I have just returned) in order to go and stay with the illustrious winchursts and (very) eagerly await the arrival of their latest addition to the family!

I arrived, ready for action, last Saturday, whereupon we went out for lunch and Isabel very amusingly encountered the fun of jelly for one of the first times. Sunday graced us with sunshine and blue sky, so we set out for Marwell Zoo, where Isabel managed to be briefly interested by the mingus before deciding that it was far more fun to take advantage of the freedom to run around like a loon and proceeded to ignore the rest of the animal inhabitants - meanwhile Kate and I got suitably excited by giraffes, meerkats and pygmy hippos amongst others!

Monday saw Daddy Winchurst have to go to work, whilst Kate, Isabel and myself were ladies who lunched, and Kate squeezed in a pre-op haircut whilst Is and I took advantage of the nearby playground...

Nothing much happened on Tuesday, unless you count the birth of my very beautiful new god daughter-to-be, who has been name Molly Rebecca...

The rest of the week passed in a blur of Isabel, Molly and general Winchurst filled loveliness, during which, thanks to Isabel, I have now become an expert on Dora the Explorer amongst other intellectual viewing options!

Now sadly I'm back in London, back at work, and devoid of small people.... :-(

Cat Power!

2006-12-23T10:11:00.000Z

Heh heh, the billboards are up, my plans for world domination are nearly complete...*evil cackle*

Tree induced joyousness!

2006-11-29T13:06:00.000Z

So last night I ventured into the depths of the countryside (well, ok, it was still within the confines of zone 4, but it felt like the depths of the countryside) to meet CNL and go to see this... and it was a very lovely evening indeed!

We popped in to a riverside pub for a 'swift one' to warm us on our way, and then ventured into the expanse of park to track down the woodland. which we were slightly worried about, as the entrance had previously evaded CNL during her early morning jogs...but using our wily wits and tree finding senses we cunnignly tracked it down and it was fully worth it...

We followed the drive to the entrance and then proceeded to follow dimly lit (and slightly muddy) paths around a large lake, surrounded by beautifully lit trees, bamboo, shrubs and sculptures... it was truly lovely, and very calming and relaxing and I urge you all to go before it ends on Sunday...I intend to revisit at least once, if not more!

See all the pictures here....

November

2006-11-27T22:33:00.000Z

So November seems to have pretty much vanished - how did that happen?! To summarise it was a mangled blur of the following....

brockwell park fireworks, chilli, pretty sunsets, staying up til sunrise, brian wilson and pet sounds, getting to know the neighbours, flaming lips (the band, not chilli related), recycle recollective's first birthday, london jazz festival, quiet nights in, card playing, magic numbers (the band, not pure maths related), domesticity, G4 craziness (work related only, I still have musical standards!), being stalked by crazy G4 fanclub lady (fortunately only in the virtual sense), Rodrigo Y Gabriela, and now the shark is back in London - yay!

All in all a muchly fun month!

Bleurgh!

2006-10-11T11:27:00.000+01:00

Well, here I am, another year older and wiser(?!). I had a superbly fun birthday, which involved negotiating airport security (and managing to unwittingly smuggle a lighter through, despite undergoing rigorous x-rays which required to stand in various poses reminiscent of Charlie's Angels), and convincing my lovely airline to upgrade me to business class cos it was my birthday. I was then welcomed to New York by an enthusiastic (and rather cute) immigration official, who winked at me while I was queuing, and then, upon realising it was my birthday, insisted on 'high-fiving' me and gave me a chocolate muffin, before stamping my passport and merrily sending me on my way.

I arrived chez shark, soon after, and after some lovely birthday champagne was whisked on a whirlwind cab-aided mystery tour, involving picking up my beautiful birthday present, encountering Abraham, a friendly (if somewhat manic) driver, who was the embodiment of how I perceive New York cab drivers should be and who got so engrossed in converstaion with us that he drove a fair few blocks past our destination - bless! Lovely cocktails, accompanied by awesome views, in the Rainbow Room followed, and then another cab ride to amazingly delicious tapas at Tia Pol.

The remaining 9 days of my trip went by in something of a whirlwind, involving a number of fine gigs (Erin Mckeown, Jamie & Michael Leonhart, Kate McGarry and Massive Attack), walks around central park, visiting assorted friends, adorable puppies and eggplants and much fun!

Arrived home, smug in the fact that I had a full four days to recover, and then, whilst out at a flamenco show on Sunday, the dreaded lurgy hit, and it is not pleasant... struggled into work on Monday, armed with a plethora of tissues and remedies, as felt I couldn't really phone in sick on my first day backafter a 2 week holiday, and survived just, so went back in yesterday, before heading off to the BBC with the Eggplants in the evening. Have a rather irritating cough today, so, rather than drive everyone in the office mad, I have opted to 'work from home'....

Normally I'd enjoy this, but its somewhat frustrating at the moment, as I have lots of work to catch up on, and there are exciting potential developments occurring, a couple of meetings for which I really need to be there for...not to mention the fact that the eggplants are in town - grrr!

My week in pictures...

2006-08-27T14:41:00.000+01:00

Madonna at Wembley Arena

Royal Festival Hall Refurbishment

Rolling Stones at Twickenham Stadium

Fuerzabruta at The Roundhouse

Recycle Collective at Darbucka

Rain, BBQ's and Madonna

2006-08-16T13:28:00.000+01:00

Well, its been a hectic week once again! Had a lovely relaxed dinner at MG's last Thursday, where I was updated on the art of cat sitting. Friday and Saturday were spent quietly in with the flatmates in a plethora of card playing antics, and then it was off to a BBQ at A's on Sunday evening. Those of you London based, or who have read HD's blog recently, will no doubt be experiencing memories of large claps of thunder and torrential downpours at this point, and yes, that about sums it up! But we bravely BBQ's on regardless, with the aid of a couple of large marquees, whilst being kept warm by the glow of many a 'psycho' cocktail, which were handmade and delivered to me in a seemingly endless supply by Mark's fair hand, and a fine time was had by all! On Monday morning I immediately realised the drawback of getting exceedingly drunk at your deputy line manager's party on a 'school night' - i.e. there is no way you can possibly phone in sick on order to stay in bed and recover from the stinking hangover you have procured....dammit. So I struggled on regardless, and was sufficently back to normal health yesterday - so much so that I somehow ended up taking FMB to the Madonna concert at Wembley last night. Now, not being an obsessed fan, and never having seen her live before (except for Live8 last year) I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was generally quite pleasantly surprised. The production, choreography and dancers were absolutely amazing, and I was mightily impressed - not least because of the giant glitter ball! However, and apologies to all you avid fans, I have to say I wasn't blown away by her actual performance, and I didn't think her voice sounded that great, and she really just looked silly trying to play a guitar! I did have a fun evening tho, and had a little sing-a-long with a few of the old classics, but I think I'd have come out slightly disappointed if I'd actually had to part with money for the experience... Some pics will follow when I've had a chance to upload!

Office talk

2006-08-10T15:13:00.000+01:00

I think it is merely a sign of the end of a manically busy period for us all in the office, but mild hysteria seemed to set in amongst us for the duration of yesterday. For starters, all day long I was teased mercilessly for something I did in somebody's dream the previous night - how is that fair?!... then there's the fact that through out the day we have all at various times been alternately singing the theme from 'Why Don't You' and the gallery tune from 'Hartbeat'... then there was C's 5 minute (at least) discussion with himself about dungarees, their merits (or not) and the implied 'fun-ness' of the dungaree wearers... for once I feel comparitively sane.

Post-Lambasting Post

2006-08-09T14:57:00.000+01:00

It was abruptly brought to my attention by my fellow flat-dwellers that it is a month since my last post. I have no excuse, other than I seem to have fallen subject to a giant and vacuous worm hole in the space time continuum, which has rudely stolen the past month from me. This theory is supported by the fact that I seem to have been insanely and constantly busy, but cannot bring to mind much of note that has happened...which leads me to believe that they just don't make time like they used to - or is it just another sign of my increasing years?

To bring you up to date, the things that I can bring to mind are as follow:

end of summer touring season, with a long weekend in Bath, which was lots of fun, and felt more like a weekend break than work.
my contract has been renewed at work, so I am now a permanent member of staff - yes, my spell in the evil nation continues indefnitely - hurrah!
Shark & TH have been over for 2 week visit - yay! Great gigs, much drinking and fine company ensued, and the visit was over far too quickly (perhaps due to the recent fluctuations in my space-time continuum?).
Have attended a plethora of leaving do's on the South Bank and caught up with many old friends/ colleagues, and in doing so have drunk far too much wine (perhaps cause of the recent fluctuations in my space-time continuum?)!
Girly day trip to Brighton for shopping and magical times on the beach with shark and est
In an attempt to further FMB's self-proclaimed unfounded jealousy, and in a 'lack of a nearby shark' slump in spirits I have booked myself a ten day trip to New York - yay once again! - and what's more I am flying on my birthday!
And finally...2nd white hair has been found on my head...oo err, but you will be relieved to hear I am not as traumatised as first time round.

Chilling out

2006-07-09T10:28:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I had my first proper whole day off in around 3 weeks, and it was fanatastic! I actually slept really well, had a lazy lie in, and got up feeling refreshed and revitalised (those of you who know me will know what a rare occurrence this is)! A large pot of coffee accompanied by bacon & guacamole bagels followed, along with a catch up gossip with FMB. Then it was off round to CNL's for a blissful afternoon lazing in her garden, aided by plentiful jugs of Pimms, and a dangerously addictive card game in which my competitive streak well and truly reared its ugly head! Was supposed to head off and see Fat Freddy's Drop at Somerset House in the evening, but was far too happy and settled to move - a testament to CNL's wondrous hospitality! I'm just glad not all days off are like this, because it makes me truly value them when they are.

Sunset in Sheffield

2006-07-08T12:32:00.000+01:00

Life on the road

2006-07-07T17:35:00.000+01:00

Phew - have just returned after a week on tour, visiting 5 (glamorous?!) UK cities in 6 days, and I haveto say, despite feeling absolutely knackered, its been a very splendid week, full of hard work, fun and no major mishaps. Seems very strange being back in my flat now, after living in hotels and on crew catering. Incidentally (not that I can imagine any of you ever needing to anyway) but never, under any circumstances stay in Coventry Novotel - I won't go into all its qualities, but it didn't start well, as when we arrived (at midnight, having driven up from London that morning and worked 12 hours onsite at the show) it was to discover that they'd taken it upon themselves to give away my pre-paid room to another guest...grrrr! And then ofcourse there was the hardcore porn being shown in the foyer bar. Otherwise, we saw lovely rolling yorkshire dales, beautiful sunsets, heard fabulous northern accents ('appen) and oh yes, some funky rock courtesy of RHCP, Ben Harper and !!!
Previously (on er), I also had lots of splendid fun working on Wireless Festival and Roger Waters in Hyde Park...

Feeling Old #57

2006-06-21T16:23:00.000+01:00

A few days ago I received an email from somebody I haven't seen/heard from/spoken to in just under 10 years, which left me on a whole new level of feeling old. I've been coping quite well recently and joyously embracing my late-twentydom, including my (still solitary) white hair, despite feeling increasingly run down, and noticing my recovery time from excessively late/boozy nights is growing longer and longer with each passing month. I've let this pass, as, in my defence, because of the nature of my manically busy job, there have been an excessive number of excessive nights of late, and there's no near end in sight.

However, there's no escaping/excusing/justifying this one, as the email was an invitation to the ten (10) year reunion of my sixth form class. My initial reaction was to recount the years, because clearly there's been some mistake, and there's no way that much time can have passed. But indeed it has. So now I'm left with what I guess is the normal mix of curiousity/anticipation/dread that goes with the looming of such things. I've been horrifically bad at keeping in touch with my 6th form crowd, so I'm not going to have seen the majority of them for the full 10 years, which is a scary thought! But mostly I'm looking forward to it - will be great to catch up and compare lives etc...now I just have to figure out what to wear, buy hey, I've got til October!

An enoromous sense of well being...

2006-06-15T11:48:00.000+01:00

Well, I survived my week at Download - riots n' all...! T'was a splendidly fun week, despite being insanely hard work, and somehow managing to not see the majority of bands playing...tho to be honest am not feeling this as such a great loss! The weather was fab, the hotel air conditioned and we've gathered an amusing anecdote or two along the way. The surrealness kicked off straight away upon arrival at the hotel, where B was asked by a man not dissimilar from the 'perfumed ponce' Irishman in Withnail & I whether he was 'not embarrassed to not have any badgers?' - or that's how we heard it anyway...the query became slightly clearer when we learned that the group we'd taken to be a party of swingers turned out to be a Kleeneze staff outing - rock n' roll!

But am now back in the throes of the office, with all our Hyde Park gigs looming large on the horizon, followed by nationwide outdoorsy stuff in various stately homes...

Fun as Download was, is also nice to be back in the lovely flat with its plethora of flatmates, all of whom welcomed me back warmly on Monday evening, aided and abetted by a couple of jugs of my secret recipe Pimms....

also been on feline feeding duty this week, which has resulted in daily walks across the park, which has reminded me how lucky we are to have it on our doorstep - the sun was glinting through the trees, ducks being ducky on the pond, children playing football and learning to ride bikes (ok, so a few of them were probably having a sneaky spliff behind a tree too, it is South East London after all, but you get the general idea....), so I have a renewed resolution to make more time for spending in the park.

And finally, it would seem I've become somewhat of a cult figure amidst one of the ticketing agencies we work with - they apparently love my name so much that whenever I send an email through they can't help but smile, and have written a song about me - I am awaiting my premiere audience of this when I meet them (for the first time) on Saturday...I'll keep you posted!

Much hecticness

2006-06-06T14:33:00.000+01:00

It's been somewhat crazy over the past couple of weeks, and I've been having trouble finding time to fit everything in, let alone blog about it! Have been to a number of cool gigs, the best of which was Rodrigo Y Gabriela on Sunday night, (and one uncool one, that shall remain un-named!) and the Grand Designs Live show where lots of fun was to be had! Also went to the aquarium, which is especially fun when you have a small person in tow (a young child that is, rather than a dwarf/midget...although I'm sure that would be fun too.....) We're heading up to Donington later on, where I shall be spending the next week working on the Download Festival - rooooooooocccccccckkkkkkk!

You know when...

2006-05-22T22:05:00.000+01:00

so we're all familiar with the now infamous Sony Bravia advert, but here's a genius 'UK-ified' version
- tee hee hee!

everything in its right place

2006-05-22T21:25:00.000+01:00

have had one of those weekends where I've emerged feeling like I haven't had a weekend at all - but in a good, manically busy way! After a mad festival related crisis at work on Friday, I eventually managed to escape in time to swig a quick G&T before heading in for the fabulous Radiohead gig at Hammersmith. They played an amazing 2 hour set, featuring around 8 new tracks, plus loads of classic favourites, and it was a truly awesome gig. Afterwards we hit the bar around the corner for a couple of hours, before returning for the aftershow, and then pizza in the suite...somehow this all culminated in my rolling in home at around 4.30am...oops! Saturday featured a chilled out morning catching up on big brother footage - yes, the entire household is now hooked - followed by a virtuous spring cleaning session, most of which was energetically carried out by FMB,, whilst I more sedately tackled the bathroom... went to see 'Brick' in the evening, which I can thoroughly recommend - a really interesting film, with very slick dialogue, which features contemporary american high school students, but scripted in 1940's gangsterish film noir-ish stylee...
Sunday saw me successfully dragging myself out of my round sanctuary of bedness to go visit the lovely winchursts in their new home town of Southampton, where we spent a fun afternoon selecting blinds and lights for their new house, plus some very cute sparkly angel fairy lights for Izzy's room! And it's so muc easier to visit now they're in the same country - hurrah! And now I have to go cos BB's on!

In response...(yes its a petition!)

2006-05-17T22:31:00.000+01:00

All comment on this post if you want to reinstate CNL's genius Big Brother reports for the new season!

Big Brother Eve

2006-05-17T17:56:00.000+01:00

And so, on the eve of Big Brother 2006, the only question on everyone's lips can only be....CNL are you ready to embrace your reporting duties for the next 4 months??!

And now for something completely different...

2006-05-09T19:35:00.000+01:00

This weekend I spent most of my time chasing an 8metre tall elephant around the streets of central london....and absolutely amazing it was too! This spectacle was provided courtesy of the amazingly talented French company, Royal de Luxe. The sight of their giant puppets instantly reduced the massive crowds, myself included, into wide eyed, grinning, manic fools (in a good way!). The puppets told the Jules Verne story of 'The Sultan's Elephant'; a sultan who commissions a giant time travelling elepant (as you do) to track down a girl he keeps dreaming of... I took hundreds of pics, but for now, until I get round to posting on flickr, here are a few to give you a vague idea......

Every second counts...

2006-05-03T17:39:00.000+01:00

It's silly and pretty meaningless, but kinda cool...

2006-04-22T14:03:00.000+01:00

Having gone into hermit-esque hiding over the Easter weekend in an attempt to regain sleep and sanity (hence lack of blog, as not a lot to report!) I've slowly been emerging back into 'life' this week...

Good Friday was spent very pleasantly with FMB (who is as we speak now in fabulous New Zealand - jealous? me? nah...), with what started as a very civilised day of Scrabble, trivial pursuits and a home-cooked supper (goats cheese and baked garlic tart incase you were wondering...) and somehow turned into a random tequila fuelled delve into the best (?!) of cheesy 80's pop which kept going until 5am or there abouts....hence the need for recovery time!

I emerged on Monday to set off on a mission to find my cousin a 21st birthday present or two, which I managed eventually, and which will hopefully be a success - we shall find out next week!

Wednesday saw the most recent Recycle Collective gig - if you haven't experienced one yet, do make an effort to go next time (May 18th), to enjoy a fine evening of food, wine and splediferous music! This month's gave me the opportunity to catch up with the lovely Alex and Estelle, neither of whom I'd seen for far too long...music was provided courtesy of Steve, Cleveland Watkiss and Leo Abrahams, all of whom were, as ever, on top form, the highlight of which for me (sorry Steve!) was Cleveland's superbly cool vocal looping wizardry...

Last night saw the usual post work drinkage occurring, but I was a good girl and was home before midnight, so didn't turn into a pumpkin...and was up bright and early this morning, since which time I've been a domestic goddess (of sorts) in a cleaning frenzy, alongside finding myself cooking breakfast for HD and friend...now how did that happen??

More New Zealand pics...

2006-04-10T22:44:00.000+01:00

Well, not much to report life-wise as have been taking it easy and trying to recover form last week's bout of sleep deprivation. Weekend was spent working on a pre-school children's live show at the other job...we were bemused by a number of dodgy single men who were trying to buy tickets until we realised the venue lettering outside was advertising 'Live Action Hoes', which while being an amusing letter ommission worthy of a place in the guardian's lost consonants series, suggested an altogether different type of show than that we were offering...

Meanwhile, here's the next instalment of photos from my trip, featuring whales, dolphins and other such things....

New Zealand (Part 2)

2006-04-06T22:56:00.000+01:00

For those interested, I've finally got round to uploading some more New Zealand pics - this time from the first weekend I spent in Wellington, plus scenery from the Interislander Ferry on the way to South Island. Go here to see them...

The next instalment features whale watching, but I thought I should hold fire for a little while, so as not to rub it in too much for shark & TH...

feel the slowing of time...

2006-04-06T22:28:00.000+01:00

and so it's nearly friday - thank goodness, for this has beeen one of the longest weeks i've had for a very long time. This is due mainly to the fact that i've actually been awake for more of it than is normal, necessary, or healthy...

And it started going wrong before it began really - Monday saw me arrive at work feeling somewhat weary post the 'happy dave welcome dinner', but I battled bravely through, and survived enough to make it down to Wembley for the fabulous Depeche Mode gig, to which FMB kindly accompanied me. Managing to skip the long guest list queue thanks to BP, we got off to a good start, tho were a little dismayed to find we all had scattered seats. This was soon foruitously fixed by the appearance of CNL in the hospitality bar, where we did a sly trading of tickets. The gig itself was amazing - voices of angels and everything else CNL has already said being utterly true. We then mysteriously found ourselves at the aftershow(s) upstairs, where CNL gracefully and fabulously looked after us, and all looked like it may still be a civilised and relatively early night, until we somehow ended up assisting CNL as purveyors of fine beverages to MG's dressing room, and well, once there it would've been rude not to stay for a drink....we did sensibly not participate in the wild bus chase that threatened to occur afterwards, but jumped in a cab and were safely home before 3 (just).

All this would have been good and copable with, were it not for the fact that this also happens to be one of the busiest weeks I've had so far in the new job, what with a couple of major tours going onsale, my workload growing, festivals looming etc, plus obligatory drinks and a lovely meal courtesy of one of our record companies last night certainly did not help towards operation sleep catch up...

but have had a lovely quiet night in this evening, eating a fine supper cooked by FMB, followed by the playing of a very stupid but addictive computer game for the past couple of hours, which, as these things are inclined to do, clearly highlighted that both myself and FMB have a secret mean competitive streak (not so) hidden within us...ho hum!

And so to bed...

In which Happy Dave moves in

2006-04-03T00:42:00.000+01:00

It's been a splendid hectic week of funfilled greatness, including 1 amazing gig (Sigur Ros), one fun gig (OKGO), further post work drinking with new colleagues, and laughing until it hurt last night when we went to watch the Mighty Boosh live show - I wasn't sure how it would all work live, but it was superb, and in a lot of ways even better than the tv series...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....Happy Dave has now moved in and WFB is no more...and even if I do say so myself I cooked a splendid welcome meal - salad tricolore, steak with lovely veggies followed by homemade lemone sorbetto...all followed by sumptuous french cheeses courtesy of FMB's 'work' France trip this weekend. After which we have just finished a somewhat epic game of 90's Trivial Pursuits...which of course my team (i.e. myself & HD) won swimmingly.

The only minorly disturbing occurrence arising from HD's arrival is the appearance of a lump of purest green in the bathroom, which unfortunately seems to be havinbg an adverse effect on the resident ducks....

it was a lost weekend...

2006-03-20T20:16:00.000Z

so i emerged from the depths of an alternating state of hangover vs drunkeness spliced with a bit of sleep deprivation, which has been ongoing since Friday evening...so it was with not a little reluctance that i found myself heading in for my second week in my new job.

the job side of things has been fab so far tho - I 've done more work in the past week than I did in the entirety of the past 6 months (which believe me is a wonderful thing), the people i work with all seem really nice, there's a great atmosphere, and i haven't even mentioned the in-house masseuse or monthly 'beer talks' yet!

the week was interspersed with a farewell to the sharkstress on Tuesday evening (who's now safely home, entertaining CNL, avoiding accidental holidays to Hawaii and bathing in a sea of hula hoops (of the snack variety, rather than the Hawaiian variation!) and a lovely gig at Darbucka which enabled me to try and reclaim my Steve's Groupy status, as well as allowing me to catch up with my old uni tutor and enjoy the fabulously wonderful guitar skills of Thomas Leeb, which Steve quite accurately predicted I'd love. The evening was only slightly marred by a random and slightly scary encounter with a random old businessman when getting off the train in Herne Hill....suffice to say I ran home to hide very quickly...

Friday was my 'welcome drinks' night with new work people, and I had a great time, and predictably was one of the last of our group still in the pub come closing time, resulting in a mad taxi trip across town with a colleague's flat mate (colleague was on crutches so had gone home a few hours earlier), swiftly followed by further drinking jollity around Herne Hill. Bravely battling through my hangover on Saturday, it was off to my friend's 40th birthday party, where I was supplied with champagne to drink and small children to play with....ah they know me so well!

Sunday FMB and I reated ourselves to a decadent Sunday morning breakfast and paper reading session, after which I headed off for my (doesn't have to be) secret (anymore) other job, where my French skills were put to the test as the entire audience were Francais. we then discovered lots of opened undrunk champagne left over from the pre-show party, which we felt ibliged to drink (well it would have been rude not to!)

so therefore i'm having a safe, quiet night in tonight, am cooking something involving pasta and salmon and finally getting round to updating le blog.

Just call us Nigella...

2006-03-12T14:54:00.000Z

take 2 restless flatmates, a lazy sunday afternoon, a cupboard of random ingredients and some culinary improvisational genius and this is what happens...

And bloody nice it is too (even if we do say so ourselves)...!

New Zealand photos (episode 1)

2006-03-09T22:20:00.000Z

so, i've finally made a start on selecting from the hundreds (those who have already seen them will vouch for this) of pics from my New Zealand trip. And so here's the first set for your perusal, featuring Auckland city, plus some random scenery from the train down to Wellington. enjoy!

Question of the day [edit]

2006-03-07T22:31:00.000Z

due to comments so far, I feel I need to (reticently) add a third rule in, so as to keep things concurrent with the aforementioned cigarette break discussion...

3. by animal, we predominantly mean land living mammals/marsupials/ungulates, but not really insects...

altough wasps are rather pointy, clearly...!

not sure about stick insects tho, as if you look at the actual definition of pointy, I'm not sure they are really. more sticky... tho lovely description mr knuckles, whoever you may be - why's your profile blocked, most enigmatic!

so further pointy animal answers please!

Question of the day:

2006-03-07T17:23:00.000Z

Today's cigarette break discussion at work (one of the few things I'll miss about current job!) was 'what is the pointiest animal'? Sadly we were unable to agree on a conclusive answer...top votes were for foxes and meerkats.

There are some simple guidelines for this;
1. do not confuse spiky with pointy - these are two different characteristics in this instance.
2. the animal of choice must be a land dwelling animal, birds or aquatic creatures not allowed, sorry!

So I'm throwing it open to the group, in your opinion what is the pointiest animal?

happy coincidences, sharks and gainful employment

2006-03-06T16:54:00.000Z

I always find it slightly freaky (in a good way!)when I find that people from different parts of my life turn out to randomly know each other, previously unbeknownst (is that actually a word or am I making it up?) to me.

I've been encountering this more than usual recently, as it would appear that Flatmate Becca (FMB from this point forwards...) has a spooky habit of already knowing a large proportion of the friends that I bring round to the flat, in a zero degree of seperation stylee. This first became apparent with the gradual realization that she and CNL had camped together at Glastonbury. It did take over a week to work this out, but then it was Glastonbury...! This encounter was then surpassed last night with the arrival of Amey, chief tenant of purplemafling's London empire. It transpires (after a mere 7.5 minute recall time this time) that FMB & Amey not only knew each other but briefly shared a flat together a couple of years ago.

I am now making it my personal challenge to try and find my most obscure friends to bring round to test the FMB networking powers! Admittedly she didn't already know the shark, but did report 'feeling as if she'd met her before and known her for years' which I think counts in this situation!

Talking of the shark her visit has come and gone all too quickly (although there is a short sequel to be caught next week), during which much fun, curry and gigs were to be had, not to mention an unplanned tour of North London courtesy of steve, who performed not one, but two fine gigs in the NT foyer.

Meanwhile, the job situation has been a flurry of activity, with my learning about, being interviewed for, offered and accepting a new job all within the space of 72 hours! I start next Monday...

Grey Matters (2)

2006-03-01T17:25:00.000Z

Thank you all for your words of support and encouragement during my time of grey discovery!

The most cheering was the shark's point that I may be cultivating a sontag stripe, which would indeed be most splendid...and ofcourse if I got bored of it I could combine with Steve's reccommendation and dye the stripe a range of funky colours as the mood took me!

So I am now embracing the grey, and it least for the time being it shall remain unplucked - tho I shall still heed jimbob's advice and not attempt to grow a beard....not yet anyway...

It's a fine day!

2006-03-01T16:57:00.000Z

Pancake Party happened last night, which turned into a fun girly gathering (2 words whcich normally fill me with dread!)...

CNL supplied the quote of the week with her proclamation that our ice was 'really good quality, not like the watery stuff you usually get in places...'?!

Was filled with slight fear during morning at work as have now agreed final leaving date with boss, but all was lifted this afternoon as it looks like I (almost) definitely have a new cool job doing rock n'pop stuff...more details to follow when all is confirmed!

And all this combined with the imminent arrival of the shark! And the day off work tomorrow to go to Brighton!

Hurrah!

Grey Matters

2006-02-27T13:07:00.000Z

So, I was conducting my usual work day getting up routine (which goes something along the lines of: Stay in bed until last possible moment - realise going to be late and panic - make coffee - leap into shower - dry, dress, wave brush at hair - gulp down coffee - run for bus) when all was thrown into disarray...

For those of you who have previously smirked humouringly at my 'I'm getting old' bemoaning, well, today I discovered my first bona fide ...grey hair...and it was not a joyous discovery! I say grey, but this thing is dazzlingly white - whiter than newly fallen snow, than purest milk, than...um...a very white thing (you get the picture) and not only that, but it has chosen to protrude in what can only be described as a jaunty manner across my forehead.

Which leaves me with the quandary of what to do next...do I pull it out, only to risk the myth that 2 will grow back in its place being true?? do I have to start buying 'covers grey naturally' hair dye?? should I just accept that I'm growing old (dis)gracefully?? Should I pay heed to P.G. Wodehouse?? Or should I just ignore it and stop over re-acting...?!

Shark Mobile

2006-02-26T22:01:00.000Z

I did spot this in Auckland:

- the must have mode of transport for the discerning shark about town.

I'm back!

2006-02-26T21:53:00.000Z

And indeed have been for nearly a week, but have also been manically busy combined with sleep deprived, which is not a complimentary combination to blogging...
New Zealand was absolutely amazing, and at some point I will get round to posting some photos and updates of what I got up to...

But for now its bath and bed as have just got back from working on X-Factor Live - NOT a pleasant experience!

PS to Steve - Sorry I missed last recycle collective, but if I'd turned up I would have been that embarrassing snoring person asleep in the corner! I promise faithfully to reclaim my groupy status at the next one!

whales!

2006-02-08T03:31:00.000Z

its pouring with rain outside, so I have temporarily taken refuge in the local internet cafe...

I found my sea food last night, and have decided that when I'm old and rich I'm going to spend my days in Kaikoura eating seafood by the sea and drinking wine from the local vineyard, as it was all superb!

Went whale watching this morning, which was awesome - there is no guarantee you get to see whales, and they average 1 or 2 per trip generally, but we saw 3, and it was spectacular! Also went round the coast line and saw fur seals, and dusky dolphins - was a veritable sea-life fest!

Have got a few cool pics which I'll try to get up soon...

Moving South...

2006-02-07T06:14:00.000Z

Left Auckland on Saturday morning, having had a splendid time and discovering the perfect bar - I'd heard of it as it was dubbed as doing 'the best gin & tonic in the city' and not only was this not a lie, but it was accompanied by an Edward Hopper'esque interior, cool music (zero 7, est, portishead, pat metheny, royksopp, etc), cute barmen, and prime position on crossroads for people watching - hurrah!

Had epic comedy of errors journey from Auckland to Wellington on the Tranzscenic train....we managed to be an hour behind schedule before we even left, due to the engine not having arrived from a nearby station...speed restriction were then enforced around 2 hours into our journey due to the heat, and then the engine decided to break down at the bottom of a mountain in the middle of nowhere - we were given the optimistic update that the engineer had located the problem but wasn't entirely sure he could fix it...20 mins later he managed and we were off again, arriving in Wellington a mere 2 hours behind schedule...

Now in England I'm sure this would all have elicited a stream of complaining, demands for refund, and genereal disgruntlement from all concerned...here on the other hand, there was not even a thought of a complaint form, everyone found it wildly amusing, was happily placated with a free cup of coffee and there was much laughter throughout....splendid! Oh, and the scenery was quite nice too!

I then spent the Waitangi weekend in Wellington with the winchursts before heading down to Kaikoura today (Thursday), where I've spent a very splendid afternoon on the beach, and am just about to go and devour lots of seafood!

Cat's Travels - 31st January to 2nd February

2006-02-02T06:29:00.000Z

Well, I have arrived in (very) sunny New Zealand safe and sound, after a very smooth and, noy unpleasant, journey. The only slight mishap being a delay after landing in Singapore, wherby they couldn't get the door open to let us off the plane! This then meant I only had an hour between flights, which wasn't great, but hey!

Arrived in Auckland this afternoon and checked into my hostel, which is cool....had wander round town and went on a short boat trip to one of the island with some people I met in a coffee shop...decided to follow a scenic trail, which we somehow went wrong on and ended up at the island's water purification unit...doh!

Back at hostel now, having had food, and am heading to bar for a quick couple before an early night....no sign of jet lag yet tho - hurrah!

oh, and before I forget

2006-01-31T14:06:00.000Z

Have just discovered this site courtesy of happy dave's blog and it is fab....well, I was impressed anyway...

It's occasionally a bit hit & miss (it offered me Cher on my Joni Mitchell station)but is generally interesting, and you can guide it once it's going to more closely match your taste!

Have already discovered a number of new artists I like through it - eek, could be dangerous!

A journey of 11980 miles starts with...

2006-01-31T13:57:00.000Z

...a day at the office - harumph!

And I even made it in on time - luggage and all!

Which is most impressive considering the level of drunken-ness I mysteriously achieved last night. Things got off to a civilised start when I met up with purplemafling and the elf for a couple of glasses of wine. I then returned home and made the fatal error of joining an already in progress dinner party, which had 'already in progress-ed' beyond the food point, and into the gin point...which, it would seem, continued for some time! Somehow managed to finish off packing in between gins, so hopefully nothing has been forgotten!

And so, a couple more hours in the office and its off to the joyousness of Heathrow - and beyond!

For Karen & Gabriel (& any other antipodean types!)

2006-01-26T21:34:00.000Z

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY (which I guess is now technically yesterday in your time zone - sorry!)

`````````````````````````````````````````
Sleeps til I fly to New Zealand: 5
minutes since last cigarette: 0 (sorry shark & lizzy...am very proud of you both)

reading update (for jimbob's info)

2006-01-22T22:34:00.000Z

The book choice was made, and for the past week or so I have been reading 'A Land of Two Halves' by Joe Bennett, which was left in by flat by the visiting winchursts, and is a witty and intelligent account of his experiences hitch-hiking around New Zealand - I now feel nicely prepped for my trip! Interspersed with this I have been reading a collection of short stories called 'Runaway' by Alice Munro, which I'd forgotten I'd picked up at JFK back in November, and whilst not being quite as entertaining as Joe Bennet, is enjoyable reading nonetheless.

These combined should keep me going until next week, when I'm allowed to start the book I've been saving for my trip - Mrukami's Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

PS - thanks for reccommendations - have read both 'Lovely Bones' and 'Lucky' by Sebold, but not the other 2 you mentioned, so will def give them a try next time!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sleeps til New Zealand flight: 9

in memoriam...

2006-01-22T15:15:00.000Z

Ode to The Whale

O great Leviathan,
What do you sing of?
Is it the fate of your kind?
Is it a song of love?
Is what you are singing
A song of your past?
Do you sing of your future
Or is this day your last?
Do you sing of the beauty
Of the beloved sea?
Do you sing of the pleasure
Of being free?
Man has betrayed you,
Gentle Giant of the deep
You must fight back,
Lest you forever sleep!

© Teresa Cochran 1/1/1979

whale of a time...?

2006-01-20T15:22:00.000Z

During my imminent trip to New Zealand, I was planning on going whale watching in Kaikoura. It would now, however, seem that I needn't bother, and can infact stroll down to the Thames as a convenient alternative.

Possibly my favourite comment is "It is a very long way from home and we don't know why it has ended up here". This has to me more than a slight suggestion that it is believed the whale may have consciously decided to arrive - perhaps it is an undercover agent, or the new wave of terrorist....or perhaps it merely fancied a spot of shopping and some lunch in town?

I am also awaiting with interest to see how they 'persuade' it to swim back out....

watch this space

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#
Days til I fly to New Zealand: 11

Ups and downs...

2006-01-15T18:45:00.000Z

its been a somewhat hectic and mixed week, and overall start to 2006....
On the upside, I now have my bank card back, and half the money has been refunded back to my account so far (rest pending fraud investigation) - hurrah!
and very excitingly Kate, Dan and the munchkin cam to stay - was very lovely to see them all, and I can officially confirm that the munchkin is the cutest, happiest, smiliest baby in the entire world ever (not that I'm biased or anything!)

broody? me? no comment....!

I then had (for probably the first time ever) a cliched Friday 13th....firstly, I diligently tore myself away from the munchkin charms so that I wouldn't be late for work, only to be stuck on a bus for two hours, thus being excessively late for work anyway...grrr! On the upside it allowed me unexpected extra reading time, and I have now finished all three Dark Materials books.....but am now left with the quandary of what to read now...help! All suggestions gratefully received!

The afternoon then brought forth a long cocnversation with boss where we both agreed that I was over qualified and under challenged in the job, and so I should actively look for something else as soon as possible....whilst being true and kind of a relief to discuss it openly, is also a little scary as I could end up jobless in 4 months....aaaaargh! so if anyone knows of anything suitable please let me know!

I then got home and for the first time ever cooked something that tasted vile (which given it was for a dinner party was not good) - fotrunately, after 45mins or so of random spice alchemy I managed to transform it into something that was quite pleasantly edible....(phew!)...

My glee was shortly followed by much swearing as I managed to shower much of the kitchen (and assorted guests/flat mates) with a large (huge) bag of basmati rice....doh! 2 days and several sweepings later I am still finding random grains lurking in unexpected corners....

Yesterday I had a lovely day of relaxation before heading off to the Crisis volunteers party, where I had a fab time, and it was really lovely to see everyone again....today's been spent nursing the hangover i mysteriously acquired...tho I have also made some maya goldchocolate chip cookies much to the flatmates' glee!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Days til I fly to New Zealand: 14

my daemon is....

2006-01-03T19:22:00.000Z

Your WOLF DAEMON shows that you are solitary,
ferocious, and often intimidating, but not
without your sufficient loyalty and poise.
People tend to misunderstand you, but you
prefer your own company, anyway.

What Animal Would Your Daemon Settle As?
brought to you by Quizilla

welcome to 2006...

2006-01-03T19:16:00.000Z

Well, New Year has come and gone - very happy 2006 wishes to those of you I have not yet had contact with...
Had a very pleasant NY Day evening, which was spent cooking a roast duck feast for the flatmates and Laydee...who arrived bearing a veritable plethora of fabulous giftiness...

Thanks to her I am now firmly engrossed in 'Northern Lights' (halfway through already!)....and am enjoying it hugely...

On the downside, 2006 hasn't started so splendidly, as discovered today that some nasty person has been using my account details and managed tro spend practically all my NZ spending money for me.....grrrrr! So most of this morning was spent cancelling cards with my bank - well I s'pose its one way to ensure I stay in this week - all the more time to read! Every cloud n' all that...!

Shows Seen in 2007

2006-01-01T14:16:00.000Z

Live Stuff 2007
23rd June - Jarvis Cocker + The Valerie Project - Royal Festival Hall
20th June - Iggy Pop - Royal Festival Hall
14-17th June - Wireless Festival - Hyde Park
11th June - Royal Festival Hall Gala Opening - Royal Festival Hall
8-10th June - Download Festival - Donnington Park
22nd May - The National - Astoria
17th May - Last Man Standing - Barfly
17th May - Patti Smith - Roundhouse
15th May - Interpol - Koko
11th May - Roger Waters - Earl's Court
1st May - Frida Hyvonen - Purcell Room
30th April - Alberta Cross, Angus & Julia Stone - Soho Arts Theatre
26th April - James - Brixton Academy
23rd April - Maps - ICA
17th April - Rickie Lee Jones - Jazz Cafe
12th April - Joan as Policewoman - Scala
11th April - Patrick Wolf - Astoria
20th March - Misty's Big Adventure - Water Rats
17th March - Arcade Fire - Brixton Academy
16th March - Arcade Fire - Brixton Academy
13th March - Midsummer Night's Dream - Roundhouse
28th February - Tilly & the Wall + Kate Nash - Scala
26th February - Patrick Wolf - ICA
18th February - Micah P Hinson - Union Chapel
16th February - Guillemots - Brixton Academy
15th February - Kate Nash @ Koko
Last Man Standing @ 100 Club
Cold War Kids @ Barfly, Camden
12th February - Larrikin Love + Tiny Dancers - Koko
2nd February - Arcade Fire - Porchester Hall
6th January - The Mermaid - QEH
5th January - Zoe Rahman - QEH

Live Stuff 2006
20th December - David Ford - Bush Hall
11th December - The Books + Kim Hiorthoy - QEH
8th December - My Life Story + The Soho Dolls - London Astoria
5th December - Michael Franti & Spearhead - Shepherd's Bush Empire
24th November - Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Shepherd's Bush Empire
23rd November - Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Forum
18th November - Magic Numbers - Hammersmith Apollo
17th November - Estelle Kokot - Octave Bar
16th November - EST + Polar Bear - Barbican
15th November - Steve Lawson, Huw Warren, Cleveland Watkiss + more - Recycle Collective 1st Birthday - Darbucka
14th November - Flaming Lips - Hammermsith Apollo
12th November - Brian Wilson, Pet Sounds - Adelphi Theatre
26th October - Sparklehorse - QEH
13th October - Kenny Young & the Eggplants - Betsey Trotwood
12th October - Kenny Young & the Eggplants - Mother Bar
3rd October - Massive Attack - Roseland Ballroom, New York
29th September - Jamie Cullum - Roseland Ballroom, New York
27th September - Jamie Leonhart, Michael Leonhart, Kate McGarry - Rockwood Music Halls, New York
26th September - Erin McKeown - Joe's Pub, New York
12th September - Patti Smith & Kevin Shields (The Coral Sea) - Queen Elizabeth Hall
29th August - David Ford - The Borderline
23rd August - Steve Lawson, Seb Rochford, Andy Hamill, Julian Ferraretto, Mandy Drummond - Recycle Collective - Darbucka
23rd August - Fuerzabruta - The Roundhouse
22nd August - Rolling Stones - Twickenham Stadium
16th August - Fionn Regan - The Luminaire
15th August - Madonna - Wembley Arena
4th August - Puppini Sisters, Nouvelle vage & others, Fruitstock, Regents Park
26th July - Steve Lawson, Julie McKee, Cleveland Watkiss - Recycle Collective - Darbucka
23rd July - Hanne Hukkelburg, Alexander's Festival Hall - The Luminaire
15th/16th July - Summer Nights Festival - Bath Rec
6th July - !!!, Ben Harper, Red Hot Chili Peppers - Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield
5th July - !!!, Ben Harper, Red Hot Chili Peppers - Derby
3rd July - !!!, Ben Harper, Red Hot Chili Peppers - Majedski Stadium, Reading
2nd July - !!!, Ben Harper, Red Hot Chili Peppers - Ricoh Stadium, Coventry
1st July - Suzanne Vega, Lightning Seeds, Roger Waters & Nick Mason - Hyde Park Calling, Hyde Park
25th June - OK GO, The Fratellis, Thomas Dolby, The Dears, Mystery Jets, Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode - Wireless Festival, Hyde Park
24th June - The Automatic, Fratellis, Smoosh, Killa Kela, Chic, Freestylers, eels, Zero 7, James Blunt - Wireless Festival, Hyde Park
23rd June - Astrid Williamson, Shortwave Set, Terry Callier, DJ Shadow, Flaming Lips, Massive Attack - Wireless Festival, Hyde Park
22nd June - Sion, Mike Rosenburg, Violent Femmes, Ray Lomantagne, Fun Lovin Criminals, KT Tunstall, David Gray - Wireless Festival, Hyde Park
21st June - The Raconteurs, Belle & Sebastian, Super Furry Animals, The Strokes - Wireless Festival, Hyde Park
20th June - XFM World Cup Screening - England v Sweden - Islington Academy
18th June - Foo Fighters/Motorhead/Queens of the Stone Age - Hyde Park
9-11th June - Download Festival (Metallica, Soulfly, Prodigy, Guns n' Roses) - Donington Park
4th June - Rodrigo Y Gabriela - London Scala
31st May - The National - Camden Koko
31st May - Steve Lawson with Julie McKee - National Theatre Foyer
29th May - Rapid City + Jon Thorne's Oedipus Complex - QEH Foyer (Jazz on a Spring Day)
26th May - My Life Story - Mean Fiddler
25th May - Take That - Wembley Arena
19th May - Radiohead + Willy Mason - Hammersmith Apollo
16th May - Hard-Fi + Wrongtom (+ surprise appearance by Billy Bragg) - Brixton Academy
14th May - Naked Sunday Collective - Beauberry House, Dulwich
12th May - The New Couriers - QEH Foyer
9th May - Robert Hylton's Urban Classicism - Purcell Room
8th May - Sol Seppy/Keith/Sebastien Tellier - The Spitz
6th/7th May - The Sultan's Elephant, Royal de Luxe - central London
24th April - Jose Gonzalez - Hammersmith Apollo
22nd April - Lola Perrin - Purcell Room
19th April - Recycle Collective (Steve Lawson/Cleveland Watkiss/Leo Abrahams) - Darbucka
3rd April - Depeche Mode - Wembley Arena
1st April - The Mighty Boosh Live - Hammersmith Apollo
30th March - OKGO - London Scala
29th March - Sigur Ros - Hammersmith Apollo
16th March - Recycle Collective (Steve Lawson/BJ Cole/Thomas Leeb)- Darbucka
13th March - Zoe Rahman - QEH Foyer
4th March - Steve Lawson/Theo Travis, National Theatre Foyer
3rd March - Andrea Vicari Quartet, QEH Foyer
3rd February - ()scape - Aotea Centre, Auckland NZ

2005-12-30T18:44:00.000Z

well I hope everybody has had a very fabulous christmas. I've had the most incredible time, working on the Crisis Open Christmas shelter, which this year was in the London Arena. Its been a tremendous experience, I've met so many amazing people, had lots of fun, felt very christmassy and learned how to be a sound engineer - to the extent that it would now seem that I am working as ASM/engineer on at least 2 summer festivals and possibly other things too!

Glen Tilbrook on my stage!

The whole experience was amazing, humbling and educational and I shall definitely be there again next year (if they'll have me!)

And so Christmas officially came to an end today, as the shelter closed and the get out got under way, and I find myself left with a slightly lost feeling, as I rejoin the 'real world'...

Am spending new year working on a children's show at soj, which I have to say isn't my top preference for a way to spend new year, but hey, its providing spending money for my trip to new zealand next month!

So, as I have to be in Hammersmith for 8am tomorrow, I think this is my end of year message, so I hope you all have a very happy new year, and I shall be back in 2006!

PS...

2005-12-21T22:20:00.000Z

Do i win prize for smallest christmas tree?

Shhh...

2005-12-21T21:59:00.000Z

am being very naughty this evening and skiving off from a party i am supposed to be at - instead I am hiding in my flat, wrapping oodles of christmas pressies and preparing to watch 'lost'...

in my defence its been a hectice few days/weeks/months and this is my only 'free' evening to do aforementioned present wrapping if said presents are to be ready in time for the day itself (although I do have an extra day as my christmas day this year is infact boxing day, as I shall be wearing my stage manager hat for Crisis on the actual christmas day...)

this weekend I managed to survive the sbc xmas party, which starred the lovely brenda and band...

...plus a very drunken phonecall to the shark as we all miss(ed) her terribly...saturday was recovery and house-cleaning day, then sunday it was off to Crisis meeting followed by brief christmas shopping before heading off to soj in evening...

the the lovely laydee came round for tea on monday, which was very splendid, and most helpful as we tweaked my cv, which has now been sent off to the relevant person, so all cross your fingers now please!

and now to lost...

much hecticness

2005-12-12T21:28:00.000Z

well its been a hectic time, so am just going to do brief summary of past week, as I clearly don't have time to blog properly!

wednesday - tapas and drinks followed by doves gig at place of soj - surprise rendezvous with the laydee and then (the very lush) Jude Law, from whom I managed to cajole some laughter out of whilst at the secret post bar....phwoar! slight tension between the laydee and my friend MG, but rest assured this was due to work stress and not anything remotely resembling dislike of aforementioned laydee, who like a saviour whisked us home through the rain in the luxury of a cab...

thursday - soj staff meal at babalou in brixton - can thoroughly recommend it - great bar staff, fantastic food, music a bit dodgy, but good fun for a staff night out!

friday - mad bit of christmas shopping on oxford street followed by the everso cute josh rouse playing at the queen elizabeth hall

saturday - working on league of gentlemen at soj, followed by curry and wine at MG's house

sunday - houseworky stuff followed by food and then mammoth xfm winter wonderland gig with Nik...superb concert band marathon, resulting in very aching legs by end as ran from 6pm through til 12.45am, all standing on the sloping floor of brixton academy! was worth it tho...editors, the kooks, maximo park, hard-fi, kaiser chiefs, jimmy carr, adam & joe, other assorted xfm djs, not to mention chas & dave, all in one gig!

today - staff christmas lunch at proper job , which turned into drunken all afternoon event...felt a little bad tho, as was being welcomed to first christmas with company, whilst I'm secretly applying for a new job elsewhere...oo errr! back home to give Becca pre-date support before lost and blog catch ups...and so here we are! am now caught up on lost, which is a relief. tho its lost a little of its appeal since a (so called) friend who's already watched it in australia revealed some key plot facts...

and now blog is done so am going to have well earned bath and read of book (kafka on the shore by haruki murakami) before bed....

it was a lost weekend...

2005-12-05T20:30:00.000Z

t'was a weekend of randomness and good gigs this week - was s'posed to go to the Franz Ferdinand end of tour party on saturday, but after finishing at my soj we somehow ended up instead going to a friend's house back in Herne Hille for very fine food, drink and company, before heading down to the academy to see the Prodigy late show...and I was once again reminded of the advantages of working in the field I do...this is not a gig I would normally haved got tickets for, as although I've always liked them I've never felt a great need to see them live....however, as we emerged from the guest door straight into the throng in front of the stage you could not fail to be caught up in it all, and I almost instantly reverted back to being a clubby teen back in the early 90's. and so we bounced around manically for the entirety of the set, before heading upstairs to the bar and somehow finding ourselves sometime later on the dance floor with Keith himself and a Hell's Angel....finally rolled home around 5 and was swiftly reminded upon awaking why I seldom do such things these days...ah yes, old age is kicking in!

review here

Sunday was a more sedate affair, with soj beckoning again, after which we headed to the Palais to catch Robert Plant...wimping out before the end and sensibky making it home before 11...still managed to sleep through my alarm this morning tho...doh!

Which brings me to a question - is there some strange cult going on in London that I am oblivious too - I keep encountering 5ft high stuffed Disney characters on my way home - last night it was Winnie the Pooh coming home on the tube (it woukd seem he lives in Stockwell if anyone is concerned) and today, as we zoomed past on the bus I saw Tigger entering the tube at Elephant and Castle. May 'Disney' watch commence - any further sightings let me know!

in a new york minute...

2005-11-29T21:05:00.000Z

have just survived first day back at work upon return from the land of shark, where she and her TH looked after me most splendidly - she beat me to blogging about it, tho I think she had a distinct unfair advantage given I was on a different contintent from my laptop at the time...

Anyway, suffice to say, I had an absolutely amazing time; all contraband was successfully delivered (with not a bag search in sight and only a 1.5 hour queue at immigration to impede arrival) the empire state building was successfully scaled in express time, sights were seen, bridges crossed, stores shopped in, suitcases filled, and much fine food and music were enjoyed, not to mention the new Harry Potter movie - not bad going for a short (almost) 5 day trip!

Couple of pics below:

others at usual spot, here

and so its now back to dreary sharkless London (the
model version looked far more welcoming!) and I know its a cliche, but where has the year gone?! I renewed my monthly oyster doodah today and realised it lasts until after Christmas - most scary! They just don't make time like they used to...

cos we like the moon....

2005-11-18T12:15:00.000Z

the moon song

A big thank you...

2005-11-18T10:04:00.000Z

...to codenamelizzy for inspiring me into an early morning saunter into Brockwell Park, as I've had the loveliest start to my day for a long time - her blog is in no way lying in description...and Lizzy - you should feel very honoured cos I wouldn't leave the warmth of my bed at that time of the morning for just anyone!

I tried, as requested, to capture the scene, and failed somewhat, but here's probably my favourite of the attempts...
- the others can be seen here...sadly I had to go back and shower before the blue sky appeared...

What did also strike me about the park this morning was the lack of jogging types - not one did I see in the 20mins or so I was out there...clearly fairweather joggers populate our fair neighbourhood!

...and all that jazz

2005-11-17T01:15:00.000Z

Have just returned home from the second of two very fine nights of music.

Tuesday night's offering was courtesy of a shark reccommendation, being personified in the form of the very lovely jeff taylor, who's over on a short visit from New York. Superb singer/songwriter, great lyrics and very fine guitar playing at the 12 Bar Club- turned into one of those lovely nights where you meet lots of random new people and your faith in the friendliness of London is restored....

and now, I've just had the pleasure of being at steve's latest venture at darbucka. First on was the superb Trip Wamsley - although I've heard many great things about him, this was my first experience of seeing/hearing him at work - I was not disappointed... Jeff then appeared to do a couple of songs, and then Steve and Theo took up their headlining spots on stage. Jeff also rejoined to do some very fine vocal improv Bobby McFerrin stylee with them...all in all a very fine night, complete with shisha pipe...

All this of course has meant I haven't seen much of the jazz festival thus far, but I intend to rectify this on Friday!

Eh-oh....?

2005-11-10T13:02:00.000Z

So I was sent this press release today about the upcoming development of the Jubilee Gardens on South Bank...now this can only be a good thing, as for a few years now, this has been a rather boring patch of grass, dissolving to mud in times of raininess...

West 8's concept is an organic, lush and green park with soft undulating hills as well as beautiful trees and flowers. They have now refined their initial concept and the organisers would like your feedback on their revised design.

Reading this however, it became immediately clear to me from where the designers had drawn their inspiration - click and drag around the picture and you'll see what I mean!

the new jubilee gardens?

hurrah!

2005-11-06T13:49:00.000Z

Finally, after over a month, the flat is now fully wi-fi'd up, broadband is fully functional, and there is much rejoicing!
Less importantly all server problems at work are now fixed too...

Friday night was very splendid - fire works aplenty in Brockwell Park...:

This was followed by chilli (made by my own fair hand!) and wine for all back at the flat...there ended up being triple the number of poeple we were expecting, but hey, that's all part of the fun!

Live music supplied last night by the fabulous white stripes who were on top form in their eccentric way- tempted to go again tonight but sensibly should have a night in methinks...

Anyway, off shopping in Brixton with Bec now....ensuring I'm back in time for Lost ofcourse!

technological breakdown

2005-11-03T11:16:00.000Z

have finally managed to hack on to the internet following complete server meltdown at work...this is bad enough in itself, but as I am the company IT department it does not bode well...am awaiting help from a flotilla of engineers allegedly winging their way to us as I type...meanwhile I am surrounded by hordes of frustrated co-workers (who would be somewhat more irate if they discover I've managed to secretly hack online...heh heh heh!).

On the upside, broadband has now been installed at home, tho wireless is not yet working...hopefully this will be fixed by the weekend and I can resume my full virtual life as I knew it (or something...)

Meanwhile, back in real life, my live music fix yesterday was supplied courtesy of the stunningly beautiful mariza, who performed to a sold out Barbican...was superb gig, even if fado isn't your thing (I wasn't convinced it was mine) you couldn't fail to be won over by her charm, quirkiness and amazing vocal talent...the set also included a stunning cover of Billie Holliday's 'Summertime'...

Was also rather nice to go to a civilised sit down concert, after all the drunken rock n' roll of recent weeks....a good prelude to the forthcoming jazz festival...

Rockiness will however be revisited on Saturday, as I have the joy of seeing the
white stripes at Hammersmith...yay!

Anyway, back to the joy of computer engineers now...

'i predict a riot'

2005-10-27T10:22:00.000+01:00

apologies for the shocking amount of time that has elapsed since my last post...life has somewhat overtaken me over the past week or so, plus, thanks to the general sluggishness of homechoice, we still heven't got broadband sorted in our flat yet (tho is happening on Tuesday, allegedly)...

Joan Armatrading gig was superb, and my friend played/sang brilliantly....much general drunkeness and messiness occurred at the party after. Just about recovered in time for sunday lunch with Bec and her parents, who were most lovely...

Last weekend was spent doing SOJ at Hammersmith, working on some awful children's show....aaaaargh, whilst accidentally going to a party on saturday night in between...

Much good news this week as my friend's biopsy results came back clear, so we are off to see the Kaiser Chiefs at Brixton Academy this evening to celebrate...hurrah!

And to backtrack to the whole Christmas rant thing briefly, whilst in Hammersmith last weekend I spotted the first Christmas tree of the year in a pub - needless to say, despite being in search of a watering hole we refused to go in in protest. I sadly did not have my camera with me, but should I get a chance I shall supply photographic evidence soon...

it's a giggywhirl

2005-10-14T13:45:00.000+01:00

well, despite my flu clinging on for dear life (but being decategorised to a level 1 cold - slight remaining bunged-upness, average tissue usage = 2 per hour)i have fully reimmersed myself into the world of 'going out'!

After lovely curry on Wednesday with the hausfrau, the elf, Jamie and codenamelizzy (who beat me to the regaling of the Gym/Gin story, so check out her blog to read it), I hurtled up to the South Bank, arriving in time to catch the end of Super Furry Animals and all of New Order, who were on fine form despite some guitar issues...Bizarre audience happenings, as was full of rowdy men intoxicated on both beer and football success, which culminated in a full on mosh pit at the front - in the Queen Elizabeth Hall too - whatever next?! Managed to survive in tact tho, and somehow found myself in the aftershow, where i was able to gaze admiringly at Fergal Sharkey among others - hurrah! A very splendid night, although I was mysteriously attacked by Time Bandits at some point, who viciously stole at least a couple of hours from me, which meant I didn't arrive home til 2.30...

...which I am definitely getting to old for. Struggled through work yesterday, and then, finding myself with a couple of hours to kill after work, I was reminded of one of the things I love about living in London; the ability to wander around and literally sumble across unexpected gigs/performances/exhibitions etc...so, I was browsing in hmv, when from downstairs I heard the familiar vocalisings of susheela raman, a very fine South Indian rooted singer, who I first saw a couple of years ago as part of a Tim Buckley tribute concert. She plays the spitz tonight and next Friday and is well worth seeing live.

So after this, my second wind (although technically first, as had been windless all day) kicked in and it was off up to darbucka for a very fine John Peel Day gig organised by the lovely steve. T'was an eclectic line-up, kicking off with chilled acoustic singer/song-writeriness from calamateur, followed by the superb mellowness of Steve's solo set, who was, as ever on top form both musically and wittily. The evening was then topped off by the African energy and all-round good vibes of Rise Kagona. Sadly I had to be sensible (for once) and leave before the end in order to catch my last train home, but it was a superb evening and one I think John himself would have been most impressed by...well done Steve!

And now for something completely different, as tonight it's off to the Albert Hall to see Joan Armatrading...well, technically I'm going to see my friend who has been on tour for the past month as her support artist, but I've always been a Joan fan too, so its a win/win situation!

sniff

2005-10-12T12:01:00.000+01:00

well, have finally managed to make it back in to work after being confined to the roundness of my bed for the best part of a week thanks to (possibly) the nastiest flu I've ever had...it is still lingering now, almose a full week later, but thankfully is receding slowly...I did however arrive at work today to be greeted, firstly, by one of my colleagues loudly exclaiming (can you quietly exclaim?)'you look terrible' during the all staff meeting (thaks Em!), and then discovered my boss is now incubating the little fluey bacteria critters and is needless to say blaming me entirely...ho hum...

On the upside, my bonus bed time meant I got to watch my newly purchased scrubs dvds which cheered me up no end - hurrah for lovely Zach Braff!

Am venturing out into the social world again tonight, starting with curry in a local restaurant ((3 Monkeys), which should help to clear the sinuses, before, hopefully, heading up to the South Bank to catch some of the john peel day launch concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall...

google gets political

2005-10-06T15:12:00.000+01:00

all right, so I know this is my third post today, and I know this has probably done the rounds already, but just incase...

Go to Google, type in "Failure" (no quotation marks), then hit "I'm feeling lucky".

see what happens.

why oh why oh why (contd...)

2005-10-06T14:31:00.000+01:00

so it seems I'm not alone in my early Christmas disgruntlement (ref: - 24/9

Hurry! Only 81 days to go ...

Tesco stores are covered in baubles, Boots has its 'Xmas' gifts out and John Lewis staff are already wishing customers 'Merry Christmas'. Can they be serious? Stephen Moss reports

hurrah for the Guardian! and whilst buying my copy i steadfastly ignored the display of a certain crisp brand's 'limited edition christmas turkey and stuffing' flavour...

crossing the void

2005-10-06T12:25:00.000+01:00

so, another weekend passed, and without the merest hint of trauma - hurrah! The Eggplants gig went swimmingly - was great to see those of you who turned, and those of you who didn't should hang your heads in shame - you know who you are!

Have got purplemafling und familie coming to stay tonight which will be most lovely - met up with them for late lunch and then dinner yesterday, and was great to see them all again and catch up on life...

Although all these inserts from the life of shark have only served to highlight the shark-shaped (have just searched to see if there was suitable word for this, and was asked 'did you mean egg-shaped?', is it just me or was this somewhat random?!) void she has left behind (I'm not entirely sure you can have a shaped void, but you can now!)..anyway, to get to the point, to alleviate the aforementioned lack of shark, I have booked my trip to New York (hurrah) for the end of November, which is most exciting!

it's my blog & i'll plug if i want to

2005-09-29T23:12:00.000+01:00

well, a couple of very pleasant evenings have passed. codenamelizzy came round for tea and brainstorming last night, which was very lovely, and tonight have just got back from curry and madness with the fabulous eggplants.

They are in town to play a gig at the Water Rats Theatre tomorrow night, so if you are free I expect to see you all there!

tell me why i don't like sundays...

2005-09-26T23:11:00.000+01:00

So, another weekend has passed, and I survived more or less in tact, despite turning a year older on Sunday…It started with a lovely laid back Saturday – ventured to the DIY heaven of B&Q (sadly in the real Croydon, as opposed to the shark’s much happier NY version) to buy purple paint for the communal room in flat (which has now been dubbed the ‘drugs den’, despite having not actually seen, smelt, tasted or snorted any semblance of drug, tho it may have encountered a stray feminax last week…). Found a very fine purple – Amethyst Falls 2 in the Dulux range should anyone care – pics will probably follow shortly, and returned home to enthusiastically apply the first coat.

Afternoon was spent Sainsbury’s shopping (steadfastly ignoring the growing mince pie displays), and preparing a bribery dinner for the EB, who came round and gallantly assisted with remedying my lack of curtains – yes, one week on from curtaingate, and no more are neighbours at risk from glimpsing me stumbling in/out of bed – hurrah! Was also of course lovely to see the EB and catch up having not seen him since our Madrid trip back in August.

Sunday also started calmly (tho slightly later and with a little more hangover than intended, and I thought that I was actually going to survive the weekend, not to mention my birthday, with no trauma at all….how naively wrong I was! So, I decide to treat myself to a bit of birthday shopping up on Oxford/Regent Street (really girly things, such as the Imovie HD manual…), and we’re on a bus heading to our last port of call, the mothership that is HMV (which has a bargainous sale on – Neil Young ‘Harvest’ for only £2.99!), and are in sight of it, when there’s suddenly a large jolt and a loud bang type sound. Well never having been in any sort of accident before, it took me a couple of seconds to realise what had happened – we’d hit someone…my friend and I were by the door so, jumped off and immediately became involved in helping the woman who’d been hit (she’s a nurse, and I’m first-aid ish trained), and after the longest 5 minutes of my life the ambulance arrived…the woman was conscious when they arrived so hopefully she’s OK…

So, then it was straight home for recovery G&T’s all round….

I think next weekend I’ll just stay at home and hide.

Why oh why oh why...?

2005-09-24T17:14:00.000+01:00

So, here we are, 3 months and a day away from Christmas, and yet Sainsbury's seem to be working to a different time:christmas continuum to the rest of us, and have festive mince pies onsale in big displays already. And what's more people are buying them...Is this consumerism gone mad? Has no-one heard of the all year round, non-festive, mince pie alternative of eccles cakes? Discuss.

where for art thou romeo...?

2005-09-22T22:23:00.000+01:00

Much hecticness occurring today on the work front...preparation for big board meeting tomorrow, most dull indeed. Then, just as i thought the day was ending, mad rush occurred to proof and edit the aforementioned dvd result of my film-editing skills...I was rather pleased with the result, when suddenly my boss enquires "why haven't we got any Montague/Capulet footage"? Well, I look at him quizzically while rapidly reviewing my (admittedly limited) knowledge of ballet. Having convincingly reassured myself that I am clearly the saner one in the room I supply my justification for the glaring lack of shakespearean family feudal action - "because it's a dvd of bloody swan lake". The room was remarkably quiet thereafter.

2005-09-21T21:59:00.000+01:00

New-flat-mate-to-be has just been round to re-check out flat....somehow 2 hours and a bottle or so of wine have mysteriously disappeared - I think this flatshare is going to work out just fine! Which is a good thing, as I've been somewhat nervous about sharing my abode again, having not done so since my dim and distant student days...and now tis time for lost, so it's goodnight from me...

plastered...

2005-09-20T21:20:00.000+01:00

well, am writing this having just dismounted from a stepladder, upon which I've been plastering in a large hole in my newly decorated wall. The hole appeared at the weekend and formed the centrefugal point of a generally stressful couple of days...

it began with my slowly rejoining the wakeful world on saturday morning, somehow still feeling sleep deprived, despite having been safely nestled in my (fabulously round) bed for close to 11 hours - I blame my friend's birthday on thursday, from which i drunkenly arrived home at around 4am, allowing a generous 2.5hrs of alcohol dazed sleep before heading off to the office, where I somewhat randomly had to be a film editor for the day (am sure that wasn't in my job description - guess it comes under the onerous 'and any other duties as appropriate' section, along with coffee making and filtering porn, as opposed to filtering coffee and making porn, which I clearly don't do!).

Anyway, back to Saturday...so, I'm now awake, and am contemplating a relaxing day of joyous domesticity. I dutifully do all the general getting up morning things, shove a first load of laundry on, open my curtains (note presence of curtains at this juncture) and plan where to start next with the ongoing task of unpacking, having only recently moved into my (well jazzshark's actually) fab flat. I'm feeling most motivated when my phone rings, and a friend of mine forces me to meet her for brunch up in town...it took a lot of persuading I can tell you! So Saturday then becomes a write off, as brunch continues into afternoon, at which point I have to head off to my secret other job, at Hammersmith Apollo (a very fine venue indeed!)

Post-work drinking ensued once back in 'the 'hood', at the very fine escape bar, followed by further drinking and pizza back in the flat....

And so to sunday, where I awake feeling sleep deprived (again), open my curtains, and am met by a large, low flying lump of metal flying towards my head, swiftly followed by a trail of white curtainage. Narrowly avoiding certain (or should that be curtain?) death, I look up to see that where my lovely chrome curtain wire bracket used to be, there is now a gaping hole, haemorraging plaster dust on to the (newly cleaned) carpet...bollocks!

Casting all thoughts of domesticity aside once again, I do what any normal person would do, and run away from the scene rapidly, deciding to go and check out the Thames Festival instead...am casually enjoying some pasta in one of the new riverside restaurants, when we are suddenly evacuated from area in random bomb scare, resulting from some fool dropping a rucksack on to the lift leading to the bridge...twat! By now feeling fed up, cold and still sleep deprived, I decide home is safer after all, and head home to assess the damage, in the vague hope it had miraculously fixed itself while i'd been out...sadly, it hadn't...

so, a trip to B & Q, a tub of polyfilla, and half an hour up a step-ladder later, I may not have curtains again yet, but the hole has been vanquished - hurrah!

just say no...

2005-09-19T23:08:00.000+01:00

So, I've finally bowed to growing peer pressure, and joined the blogging epidemic that seems to be taking over the virtual world...well, it was a quiet afternoon at work, so I thought I might as well do something productive(?!) with my time...Sadly, it took me so long to learn html in order to turn my background purple (ah yes, I have my priorities set) and stop everything appearing in block caps, that I had to leave before being able to actually post anything, ho-hum. But after yet another trip to ikea (the third in three weeks - its a worry when the hot dog seller starts to recognise you...), here I am, with time for just a quick note before bedtime, which I think is probably now, so good night!

for steve...

2005-09-19T22:31:00.000+01:00

something

2005-09-19T16:06:00.000+01:00

test