magictreehouse | Entries tagged with music

I'm having the week from hell here. It's the start of term and I seem to be asked for everything. Why have I done this to myself for nearly four years? I need to get out desperately.

Anyway, I had a good weekend. It was Heritage Open Day weekend and on Saturday we went for a tour of the Central Library. It's a beautiful building and we got to go to places that aren't open to the public. I refrained from breaking down and shouting 'GIVE ME A JOB!' So I think it went ok. On Sunday we went on a waterfront walk. It was a little disappointing if I'm honest as we went around the part of the river we've been round a lot and the woman who guided us (blatant Daily Mail reader) didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. I get the impression that we weren't alone in that respect. The group was big though. 60 people turned up so they had to split us into 2 groups.

I don't really have that much to talk about to be honest. I'm just holding on until London at the weekend which will be good. We've booked tickets to go and see the Queen! Might tackle the V+A on Thursday afternoon as well, not sure yet though.

I've started a new book - 'Balthazar Jones and the Tower Of London Zoo' which I'm reading for obvious reasons and we finished watching Brothers and Sisters which was really good this season. Music-wise, the Hurts album is excellent and the Robyn album has arrived. Very exciting. Looking forward to The Pipettes album landing in my letterbox soon too. Oh, and there's the new Skunk Anansie album too. Goodness ahoy!

I'd better get an interview for that job I've applied for. I can't take much more of this :s

Current Mood: fed up

I've been having a jolly week off. So much so that today is especially hard, being back at work. I hate my job, so I'm kicking into action Plan B. I'm going to start applying for part-time library work and see where I end up. It's quite nice earning an ok wage (especially on 4 days a week) but with library jobs being few and far between I can't just wait for a perfect job to come up. It's nearly a year since I got my MSc and I'm still here. So There's a good, 20-hour a week job at University of Leeds which I'll go for. I guess I'm too comfortable here but if I want to get out then I really need to take a risk.

On Bank Holiday Monday we did the new, extended Leeds Owl Trail. I recently emailed the people who do it with some extra owls we found and I got a reply today to say that they're not actually Heritage owls, they're 'scare' owls. Fake owls! Who knew?! We finished up near Millennium Square so we went to Spice Quarter for lunch and had their all you can eat buffet. It was so good! I'd never used a chocolate fountain before, fun stuff!

On Wednesday we went to see Scott Pilgrim Vs The World which I really enjoyed. It's fun stuff. I have a love/hate relationship with 'geeky' (I can't think of another way to describe them!) films. For me they either try too hard (Lost In Translation) or have really unlikeable characters (Ghost World, Juno), but then I'm aware that the ones I hate, other people really love, and the ones that I love (Eternal Sunshine for example) also divide people and can have the same arguments that I've just mentioned fired back at it. I've never know any other type of movie to divide people in such a way. Anyway, I'm glad to say that it was on the right side. It was really funny and there were a surprising amount of characters in it. My only problem was that I didn't care if George Michael (no, not that one) got the girl or not, Knives was much cooler and he totally should have run away with her at the end instead of being blinded by Ramona's colourful hair.

On Saturday we went to Lotherton Hall. Typically the summer bus that goes straight there had stop running last week so we had to get the bus to Aberford and walk a mile to reach the place. It really is in the middle on nowhere. Still, it was worth it. It has a free bird garden which was really nice, especially as the weather was great. And the house itself is stunning. There are no ropes holding you back from wandering around, the windows are large and let loads of light in and so the house doesn't have that cold, hollow feeling that a lot of similar big houses can have. There were a lot of worldwide knickknacks around along with bird artifacts, and an exhibit upstairs which had fashion items influenced by birds. All really interesting. We had dinner in the café where James declared that 'there are a lot of lumpy people around aren't there?' and we walked around the grounds and had a really nice chat about family and other things. A great day.

We got back and walked through the market where I saw a teenage mum pushing a pram wearing an 'I *heart* Justin Beiber T-shirt. I cried inside. In the evening we went to see Witness For The Prosecution at Leeds Grand. I love Agatha Christie and it's surprising how much work she did on the stage. The play is wonderful, although it's very wordy so you do have to concentrate. All the twists at the end totally pay off.

Must mention the book I'm reading. I've just read Superfreakonomics which was great, and now I'm on to the Bad Book Affair. I should read more novels with a librarian as the main character. I'm loving it. I'm really into reading at the moment.

Music-wise I haven't really bought anything new apart from the new Kim Wilde album. The Hurts album is on the way though. I've mostly just been listening to Dragonette - 'Get your titties off my things'!

Might be booking a Xmas trip to Denmark/Sweden soon. More details to follow.

Right, a quick update from me. I've had a quiet weekend really. Didn't do much on Saturday apart from potter about really. We've booked all of our stuff for Chantal's 30th birthday in London in September. It's very exciting as we haven't been to London for a good while. We're going down on the Thursday which gives us Thursday and Friday to do what we like really. It was touch and go for a while as to whether we could go as it took time to find cheap trains and a hotel. But we've found an utter bargain for both train tickets and accomodation. It's suspiciously cheap! But we're in Kensington which is where all of my favourite museums are so it should make for a great long weekend. We were looking for a show to go and see on Friday and so we looked at Sister Act. And dear God it's expensive. The stalls are £90-£75! Not that we go for stalls seats, haha. So instead we've gone for Legally Blonde which will be great I'm sure. Plus Sister Act is touring in autumn 2010 so we'll just see that when it comes North and therefore cheaper.

We've watched a lot of films lately. We watched Lethal Weapons 3 and 4. Surprisingly they're all pretty solid, which I didn't expect in a way. We rounded off the experience with Loaded Weapon 1 which had its moments but wasn't a patch on Hot Shots really. Also watched The Graduate which was a good film, funnily than I thought it would be actually.

What else did I do? Oh yes, went out and bought the Daily Mirror to get the new Prince album. I chucked the paper without reading it of course so a Prince album for 65p is a bargain. I've only listened to it once but it's good stuff. I'm an easy Prince fan to please really. His old stuff is stunning obviously but I really like some of the newer stuff. 3121 was brilliant for example. I've ended up buying so much of his stuff though that I don't know it all particularly well. Must sort that out.

I also bought the Speical Edition of Monkey Island 2 which is on Xbox Live Arcade. It look stunning and there's commentary from the creators which is really good. I'm loving playing it again. I've also recently finished The Longest Journey which was notable for not only the amazing story but it's the only game that I know of that has convincing gay characters in it. Probably becuase it was written by a Norwegian, ha. The problem with adventure games with great stories is that they end up being very wordy without very many puzzles. I've been spoiled by Lucasarts I guess and it was a brilliant game, don't get me wrong.

Forgot to mention that I finished my Kathy Reichs book 'Death De Jour' which was a good thriller I have to say, sometimes very grizzly though! I'm now going to read some classics at the same time as James so we can discuss them. I've just started Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. A good start so far.

On Sunday we were going to go to Kirkstall Abbey but it was a bit chilly so instead we wandered round Leeds (including the Victoria Quarter which James had never been through!). We ended up at the Museum Cafe which is one of my favourite places in Leeds. So we sat there for a little while and then came home and played Super Scrabble. I lost but I was always going to when James played blinders like COCCYX and HYMEN.

Music-wise I've just bought the new Liz Phair album which has been sneaked out on her website and is that sound of a woman having a breakdown after being shafted by record company after record company. Still, it's listenable so far even if Liz does rap on it, haha. Also, the Scissor Sisters new album is brilliant and I wasn't fussed by it's release to begin with. I always thought that they were missing something when actually they were getting bogged down by something - their characatuer. So by taking themselves seriously (ish) they've produced something very catchy and very good.

Right, off to see Spamalot tonight. Fun times!

Current Mood: bouncy

On Wednesday night we went to see The Princess and the Frog. I feared it would be full up as it was half term. Thankfully I was wrong. I hadn't seen a Disney 2D animation at the cinema for many years but I was so glad that it didn't disappoint. It's absolutely stunning on the big screen. Beautiful in a totally different way to Ponyo. There's so much about the animation that I don't understand, like how do lights work? You can paint brightness! Oh, it was all so beautiful and it was funny too. I think Empire got their review spot when they said that it was thoroughly traditional but threw enough curve balls along the way to make it interesting. So true. I didn't think that having a black princess would make any difference but I'm glad that it added a whole new edge to the film. Loved it.

Yesterday, we headed to The Living Room to spend my comedy cheque of a voucher on tasty tasty food. I probably mentioned the scheme before but the Yorkshire Post are doing £25 for a £50 voucher at certain Leeds restaurants. Anyway, it was lovely. I had crab, guacamole and tomato to start (that does sound quite odd) followed by ostrich fillet with parsnips and mash. Sooo good. I love ostrich. The first time I had it was at Disneyland Paris in the Pirate restaurant which oddly may have been the best meal I've ever had. The waiter's ostrich knowledge was second to none too. I was going to plump for well-done but he suggested that it be left slightly pink and he was right! So the question remains - what do you do when you can't decide on one dessert to have?.......

HAVE THEM ALL! That's eton mess in the middle with cheesecake, a tiny lemon meringue pie, creme brulee and chocolate orange sponge. One each. Yes, we're fat arses! No I don't care! It was soooo good.

On a less tasty note, they've gone and found a body in Clarence Dock. Amazing. For anyone that doesn't know Leeds, that's round the corner from my flat. A year or two back they did it all up and put loads of boutiques in...only for no-one to visit them. It's always dead and we often make jokes about it. When I told Eleanor at work about it the first thing she said was 'was it one of the shop keepers?'. It's bad down there but I don't think that people are killing themselves quite yet. Let's hope it brings the flat prices in the area down!

The other depressing news is that I'm getting a new line manager at work. Depending on who gets this internal vacancy it could be a good thing or a bad thing. We shall see. Unfortunately this puts more mega pressure on me getting this job next week :( I don't know what I'll do if I don't get it.

My Mum, brother and sister are coming up today. We're taking them to York tomorrow which will hopefully be good. It depends on the weather. None of them have ever been before so I'm looking forward to showing them round, not that I know where I'm going. York is the only city that I'm familiar with and yet still can't find my way around! I blame the vikings.

Did anyone watch The Brits? God they were ropey. The only good things were Lily Allen, Lady Gaga's acceptance speeches, and the Florance/Dizzee cover which I quite liked. It even made me want to re-visit her dodgy album (but not that much clearly, I'm still listening to Prince and The B-52s).

Current Mood: hopeful

Last Wednesday we went to see 'Avatar'. I find that it helps to go and see films with the lowest expectations possible so that you'll enjoy them no matter what. Either way, I got past the ropey plot, predictable bits and boring script and had a brilliant time. I got absolutely sucked in. It took me a while to get used to the 3Dness of it all and there was still something a little off about the 'real' bits, they were slightly blurry somehow. Still, the bits on Pandora were amazing to watch and even ignoring the 3D some of the shots were incredible. So yeah, I really enjoyed it. It's a four out of five for me. I'm still not convinced that 3D is the future. It works for CGI but in other respects it can be really distracting. I'd never want to see a slower film in 3D for example. It worries me that there's talk of 3D TV. I don't want it!

I'm aware that this makes me sound like an old fuddy-duddy but I don't think that it is that. So much of technology seems superfluous to me, I just don't get it! The tiniest upgrade seems to be lauded as the next big thing, it no longer seems to be about big leaps. Now if they invented hoverboards then maybe I'd be interested...

Over the weekend we watched 'Baby Mama' which was good simply because Tina Fey can do no wrong. Actually, it was funny regardless of that. And it didn't over-labour the romantic aspect which was great. Sigourney Weaver in a comic turn is always a treat too.

Things have been slow otherwise. Julia came to visit over the weekend so we played Trivial Persuit and Lego games. I still need a new job although there's one going at the University of Huddersfield which is looking promising. Anything to get me out of here! I hate January for many reasons but one biggie is that there are no jobs out there to make being back at work more bareable.

Oh, I finished Sarah Waters' 'The Little Stranger' which I really enjoyed. It probably wasn't as good as 'The Night Watch' but that doesn't mean that I wasn't compelled until the end. It's an interesting period to set the book in too, you don't often hear about the late 1940s, probably because it was very much still wartime in many respects. I love books which are clearly well researched. Speaking of which, the next book that I desperately want in paperback is Michael Crichton's last book. It's about pirates!

January is also miserable because there isn't much new music about. The Delphic album is pretty much all I've been listening to lately and I adore it. It's wonderful. Guitar music as it should have evolved. The lull in activity does mean that I get to re-visit some older albums though which is always good.

Current Mood: bored

January – Spend New Year in Crewe and went to Chester Zoo which was brilliant but bloody freezing. Introduce my Grandma to James for the first time. Picked over the remains of Woolworths (RIP). Lucy comes to visit. My sister goes to hospital with chest pains. She’s fine. Apparently a lot of teenage girls get it. Hmm. That stuff aside, January is a bit of a killer mostly because work was terrible. I couldn’t wait to get to the end when I visited Iceland.

February – Had the most amazing time in Iceland. It’s just a stunning country, even under all the snow. I saw the Northern Lights, visited Pingvillar National Park, saw the Gullfoss waterfalls, saw the original Geyser, and many other things. They have some damn tasty snacks. Their chocolate is great as are pastry products. Not the dried fish though. Ugh. Ended the holiday by bathing in an outdoor geothermal pool. One of the most amazing things ever, my skin felt wonderful for weeks after and I still daydream about the place even now. I should probably move there. I bet I could buy a house for a bag of chips.

In other more boring news I went for a job interview at Keighley library. I didn’t get the job but it’s the first of many I’ll go for. Start to look for flats in Leeds and then secure one.

March - Went to see Lenny Henry in Northern Broadside’s Othello and West Side Story. Moved to Leeds, a great decision even if we did get stung by our cunty landlords and suffered stupid deliveries.

April – Uni starts to come to a climax and the fear sets in. Saw The Tempest which was disappointing despite it being performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. My line manager leaves her job leaving me as the sole Quality person in the College. Go back to Crewe for a bit and visit my old colleagues at the library. Bought some amazing knitted peas from a stall on Brewery Wharf. Ordered my Girls Aloud singles box set. Frivolous yes, but I never got to have a proper pop phase when I was growing up.

May – My 25^th birthday. I spend it in Tropical World, walking round Roundhay Park and having tea in Little Tokyo, my favourite restaurant. (up to 10^th). Visited James’ grandma and family for his birthday. It was ok although james didn’t have a good time :s Have to deal with an OfSTED visit at work on my own. Went to see Ross Noble in York who is hilarious as usual. Go to see Saint Etienne in Sheffield who perform the whole of Foxbase Alpha and some other hits. Went to a BBQ at Rich and Greg’s but had to come home early as it was Eurovision night! Went to London for the weekend and saw Hairspray, had an explore around Greenwich, took a boat down the Thames and went to see Girls Aloud at the O2. Saw An Inspector Calls at Leeds Grand. It’s the most awful play I’ve ever scene and we nearly walked out.

June – Went to see Bedroom Farce which turns out to be the best play I’ve seen. Finally got round to having a house warming party with lots of board games and then a night out at Baja and introduce the world to my ‘Single Ladies’ routine. My Mum and sister come to visit and we take them to Harewood House where we watched a bee-hive demonstration.

July – Go to the Thackery Museum in Leeds. On getting to the section entitled ‘pus’ I promptly pass out. This was the worst thing that happened this year as, as a consequence, I suffered numerous panic attacks and anxiety related problems for as long as six months afterwards. It’s just shit. July’s a rough month. My Girls Aloud box set arrives! Went to see The Saturdays in Manchester. Went to Party in the Park in Leeds. Highlights are Dizzee Rascal, Little Boots and Frankmusik.

August – Went to Leeds Gay Pride. Had an interview at Halifax Central Library, another job I don’t get. Visit my family in Crewe and go to the Blue Planet, and have ice cream at Snugbury’s!

September – Come back from our holiday in Mayrhofen in Austria. Wonderful Alpine country with glorious weather. We did loads and saw a lot – waterfalls, farms, mountains, glaciers, cities. Really good fun. And beautiful, everywhere was covered in flowers. Some great experiences. Write my dissertation. It makes me want to cry and I resent writing every single word. When I finish it James takes me to Little Tokyo to celebrate.

October – Saw Dial M For Murder at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Went for an interview at Leeds College Of Art, I don’t get that one either. Jonathan comes to visit and we revel in computer gamer-y at the Expo exhibit in Leeds. Had a lovely day in York too. Went to see Alesha Dixon in Manchester.

November – Went to see Alphabeat in Leeds. Went to see Frankmusik and then VV Brown as well. Two years worth of studying leads to me getting a merit for my MSc making me a proper Master of Science and a master of libraries. Not that I work in one…Go to London to see John Barrowman not perform in Les Cages Aux Folles (boo), and Blood Brothers. Meet Melanie C who is lovely.

December – Interrupt a game of strip gay Wii bowling when we go to Rich and Greg’s flat. Several icy weather causes me to fall on my arse a number of times. Inspires me to buy three pairs of trainers in the Xmas sales though – more than I’ve ever owned! Went to see The Pet Shop Boys At the MEN. Spend our first Xmas alone and cook a lovely dinner. Visit James’ family for more food and then my family for New Year.

So on paper it looks like I've had a pretty good year and I have. It was just marred by an over bearer anxiety, but let's forget about that because wirting it all down has made me feel that 2009 was full of a lot of highs for me and that's the main thing. And there's been some great music and films released this year which have bucked the mainstream in a way.

Music-wise I've made a list of my favourite albums but to be honest, the to p could seriously go in any order as there have been loads of excellent albums I've had the chance to listen to and yet there has not been one absolute stunner. Not that this matters when things are as good as this. Still, there were a few reliable groups that really let me down, mostly electro ones. Client, Fischerspooner and IAMX produced albums I wasn't fussed by and I thought they were a sure bet. Cheryl Cole's was beyond disappointing as well and La Roux's effort and Florence and the Machine's could both have been better.

Top albums of 2009:
1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
2. Little Boots - Hands
3. Annie - Don't Stop
4. Lady Gaga - The Fame/Fame Monster
5. Venus Hum - Mechanics and Mathematics
6. Frankmusik - Complete Me
7. VV Brown - Travelling Like The Light
8. Dragonette - Fixin To Thrill
9. Peaches - I Feel Cream
10. Dan Black - Un
11. Pet Shop Boys - Yes
12. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
13. The Noisettes - Wild Young Hearts
14. Charlotte Hatherley - New Worlds
15. La Roux - La Roux
16. Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe
17. Florence and the Machine - Lungs
18. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

My soundtrack to 2009 (in no order):

Shakira - She Wolf
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero
Depeche Mode - Wrong
Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
Lady Gaga - Just Dance
Bat For Lashes - Daniel
Lily Allen - The Fear
Peaches - Lose You
Frankmusik - 3 Little Words
VV Brown - Shark In The Water
Alphabeat - The Spell
Charlotte Hatherley - White
Pet Shop Boys - Love Etc.
Natalie Imbruglia - Want
La Roux - Bulletproof
Noisettes - Don't Upset The Rhythm
Venus Hum - Mechanics and Mathematics
Mini Viva - Left My Heart In Tokyo
Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway
Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers
Annie - Anthonio
Little Boots - Remedy

I'm not going to do a retrospective of the 00s because every time I think about them all I think of is how bad it all was. Terrorism, the economy, the music industry going down the pan etc. Hell even something that seems to be quite good like the internet falls apart on closer inspection. It's addictive but a lot of it's superfulous and trivial. For every 2.0 application that brings people together there are plenty more that concentrate on individualism and self-promotion. You only have to look what it's done to the music industry. I can't help but feel that people have lost the appreciation of music as an art form. The internet has its plus points though, I'd just like to see the next year or so move away from depending on it, and that goes for me too. Anyway, it's hard to be optimistic about the 2010s when the Tories are likely to get in in May. Boo.

Current Mood: cold

The past week's been quite slow, hence the lack of update. We haven't really been doing much. I've been getting bits for Xmas which is very ahead of schedule and on Thursday I made James an advent calendar. I didn't realise how difficult it was going to be but I'm pretty pleased with the results. I have a Toy Story one this year :D We might put our tree up tonight as James' Mum is coming to Leeds on Thursday and it would be nice for her to see it. Still, we're heading to Borders after work to pick over its corpse. It's 20% off things others than maps (50%) so we might get some board games. I much prefer Borders than Waterstones, they have a bigger rnage of non-fiction which I prefer to browse. Novels I can just buy on-line as I don't need to flick through them. Where will people buy their strange magazines from now?!

On Sunday night we watched 'Priceless'. Audrey Tautou was in it so that's automatically a hooray from me. It was good though. When it first came out it was billed as the new Breakfast in Tiffany's. I see where they were going but they were wide off the mark. It was funny but there was something just stopping it from being really great. Very enjoyable though, and it's nice to see Audrey in something modern. On a vaguely similar note, the new Empire has Jean-Pierre Jeunet talking about all of his films. Very exciting. I want to skip straight to it but I've got to read the making of issue first. It's interesting how they put their magazine together. All of the previous editors seem to have fallen into the job really easily. One of their editors started at 26! *weeps* My time will come!

On Saturday we went to the German markets at Millenium Sqaure. We ate some great food. A lovely burger and a crepe with cherries in, plus a hot chocolate. So damn good! It was packed though, which was a shame as I could have done with a leisurely look around for presents for people. On the way back I got a HD cable for my Xbox. It makes a big difference surprisingly, especially as I still can't tell High Definition on DVDs (upscaled) or the TV. Technology is confusing!

New Goldfrapp album has been announced. Yay! In March! Boo. The new single's called 'Rocket' and it's a return to upbeat stuff. Excellent. I didn't realise how excited I'd be to hear that a new Goldfrapp album is on the way but it's great news. Yay!

Current Mood: busy

Right, I haven't updated for a week apparently so I'd better type something. The main thing is that we went to see Frankmusik at the Cockpit (yes, there again) on Friday night. He was very good and has a stunning voice on him. Funny as he was suffering with his throat, you really couldn't tell though. I think we got a slightly different setlist than previous dates, possibly because of the throat:

1. Time Will Tell

2. When You're Around

3. Gotta Boyfriend?

4. Rehab (Amy Winehouse cover)

5. Confusion Girl

6. Dancing in the Dark (? A new track, not sure of the name)

7. Vacant Heart

8. 3 Little Words

9. In Step / Please Don't Stop Frankmusik

10. Better Off As 2

Encore: 11. It's A Sin (Pet Shop Boys cover) / Medley

It was a pretty brief set all told but it was all great, he's an enegetic performer and I danced my socks off. Him incorporating Rihanna's 'Don't Stop The Music' was an obvious highlight. 'Please don't Frankmusik!' Brilliant. Oh, and one of the support acts, Heads We Dance were very good. It's funny, electro seems to be moving more and more towards dance these days and I can see it being the template for the 10s.

We managed to plod on with our James Bond watching. This time it was 'The Spy Who Loved Me' which I really enjoyed. It had everything you want from a James Bond film in it and I love that Bond has a rival in it, even if she only mourns the loss of her dead lover for about 30 seconds before jumping on Bond's disco stick.

The other film we've watched lately is 17 Again. I hate myself for finding Zac Efron so damn attractive. I would have hated him if I was at school with him so to find him swoonsome feels like a total betrayal. In my defense I really do think that he's a good actor, well a comic one anyway. His indie film is out next month so we shall see. Oh, and having watched 'that' deleted scene I have to say that he looks far to muscley in it. Not attractive.

Zefron perving aside I don't really have much more to say. I'm so sick of there not being any jobs to apply for that I've decided to give myself away for free. I still get Thursdays off so I've enquired at the council to see if I can get on their relief register. They don't have one but I've been directed to a site called www.sliversoftime.com so I've signed up for that. We'll see where it gets me.

I keep researching trips to Denmark. It's become a bit of a 'thing'. I need to check the finances out first though. I just keep thinking about how it's nearly a year since we went to Iceland and how wonderful a winter holiday is, plus I need something to take away from the pain that I've been in my job for three years in Januray. Y'know, the temporary job which was only meant to last until I found a library position. *weeps*

Music wise it's become the quiet season for me. Too much X-Factor shit around for my liking. James said last night 'do you think it's like the Emporer's New Clothes? We know it's shit but no-one else can see it.'. So true. I just don't get it. How can you say you're a fan of music and yet subscribe to something so cynical? So I shall continue to listen to my Skunk Anansie Greatest hits. 4 discs, amazing. It has two DVDs, one with the music videos on and another with TV slots. It has 'Charlie Big Potato' and 'Secretely' performed on TFI Friday. When I used to tape music of the TV those were two of the performances that I had so I was glad to get them on DVD! I wish more bands would release their TV stuff on DVD. Pulp are the only other one I can think of that have, except that it's called 'TV Madness' and is brilliant.

Current Mood: bored

Well I haven't updated for a bit because I've been ill. Again. This time I managed to catch whatever James had the week before. This may or may not have been swine flu. I seem to have had it in a more concentrated form though. Whereas James had it for over a week I had all the symptoms possible in the space of two days. On Wednesday night I went to bed at 4pm and didn't get out again until 9am the next day having had a permanent headache. Then I had aching muscles, other flu type stuff and then I've been left with a cough that I still had. Rubbish. It meant that my family had to postpone their visit too which was very annoying.

On the Wednesday I went to bed James went to his last LGBT group in Skipton. There was a party and the insanely hyperactive gays from the Bradford group went to as did a few from the Scarborough one. He's not safe to let out alone honestly. As per usual he got a few phone numbers thrust at him (as long as that was the only thing thrust at him). It's shameless! Hilariously one of the Bradford group didn't go because they would have had to have gone straight from work and they didn't want james to see him in his work clothes! Also, Chris who I've met a few times apparently never stops talking about James! Brilliant. I have to say that although I never ever consider myself not good enough for James but when he came home and was telling me about gays fawning over him I did wonder why such a hot guy was with me instead. In my defense though, I wasn't at my best what with me being at death's door. I am very lucky though. I think James is a bit glad of the group finishing. He won't have to travel to Skipton anymore and there aren't always a lot of people there. It's a shame though, he's met some nice people through it.

On Monday my brother came to visit. We had a nice time. On Tuesday we both went to the Eurogamer Expo event at Clarance dock which had loads of games that are coming out for Xmas and talks and stuff on. Most of the games were playable and we got to try out some good stuff. I really want to be able to play the Uncharted games! Boo to that. The new one look stunning. I was talking about motion capture with james today and he said how it doesn't work for film but that game is a perfect example of where it does work. Mario Brothers for the Wii was also great, so much fun. We went to one of the talks - the one for Brink. It was mostly just a demo but the lead games designer was giving the talk and it was interesting to hear what went into the making of a game. It's crazy, there are so many people working on a game, it's just like a film.

To be honest, a lot of the stuff isn't that interesting to me. A lot of same-y FPS games and racing stuff which concentrate on realism as opposed to actual innovation. It especially showed in the over-18 sections that they had. the games there were the most boring! i do wonder if, while the technology of gaming increases, the rest of the gaming industry stays still. Storytelling certainly isn't getting better, nor is script writing. The only place that this is really pushed is in RPGs, especially Japanese games like Final Fantasy. It's for this reaosn that a lot of games just leave me behind. Don't get me wrong, I like playing games but I have to supplement some of my gaming needs with retro gaming, no bad thing. Anyway, moaning aside it was a good day and the tickets were only £6 each. They had a tonne of games there on two sites as well. I've never seen Clarance Dock so busy! jonather had a good day overall too and it was nice to see him.

We watched a few things over the past few days. 'Cockles and Muscles' was a French film which was funny. Apparently it got mixed reviews when it came out but I really enjoyed it, but then I like a lot of French films. I liked it's take of sexuality and humour and classic misunderstandings, a good film. We watched Abigail's Party last night. We've been meaning to watch it for ages after hearing so much about it, and it was very good. Very play like, but then it was a play. But it was all so subtley done and very funny. I really enjoyed it. The ending takes you by surprise though, and I do want to know what happens to Abigail!

I finished reading my QI book about animals. It was very interesting, obviously. I learnt a fair bit actually. I'm not sure what to read next although I have a few magazines and bits to catch up on so maybe I'll do that for a bit.

Today James booked the day off and we went for an unplanned visit to York. York really is lovely in the autumn and it's been ages since we went there. We had a potter around the shops and had our dinner by the river. It was surprisingly busy. I don't even think it was because it was half term, it was probably just because it was York. I bought a jumper from H+M and BBC Wildlife magazine and it comes with the photographer of the year photos which I always love. I don't think I bought much else!

Tonight we carved out a pumpkin. I'm very pleased with him, he's very cute. We haven't thought of a name for him yet though. I'll put a picture up when I load them on here. He's on the balcony and looks in when we have the blinds up, bless him. I actually really like Hallowe'en. Mostly because of the colours though, all dark blues and oranges, my favourite. I love autumn.

I have to mention how good the new Annie album is! I've waited for it for 18 months and it's finally out! A miracle. It's really good though. There's a bit more to it than Anniemal I think, and it's all fun pop stuff done extremely well. I seem to be the only person who likes the Breakfast Song :(

Music

Current Mood: cheerful

This weekend's seemed quite busy really. On Saturday we went to Skipton as James' Grandma was visiting. We probably went a little early really as we were a bit bored and the house was so warm that we were half asleep! James' Mum made us a nice tea though so it was worth it for that. We were back for about nine which wasn't too bad. Yesterday we went shopping around town. I hate it usually but I was clothes shopping so it wasn't as bad. I did pretty well overall. I bought a coat which I consider quite a success considering that the only new coat I've ever bought was from Primark two years ago. This is more like a 'posh' duffel coat though. I feel quite grown-up in it. A worry. Managed to do very well in H+M all told. It's finally good again. There was a time when my entire wardrobe was from there but I haven't bought anything from there for years. I struck gold with the long sleeve T-shirts though, such is my style nowadays. james is quite grumpy to go clothes shopping with which is quite amusing. Especially when we go in places like Topman, it makes him quite potty-mouthed despite him having quite a bit of success in there. Still, I couldn't persuade him to buy a stupid hat.

We watched Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe the other day. I think it's a one off as it was basically a short history of gaming and then a run down of all types of genre. it was really interesting as he seemed to be coming from the same I do when I talk about games. I thought what he was saying about creativty and story-telling was bang on the money. A lot of the current stories in games come from people who have just watched a load of films and replicated them in games, like Grand Theft Auto. That's not to say that those types of games aren't well done. GTA is very intricate and well made game, but you end up with an immense game which is propping up a weak-as-dishwater story. The only place that that doesn't seem to happen is with RPGS which often have a brilliant story with a well-crafted gane. This is possibly down to RPGs often being made by Japanese developers. It's not all bad though. It's just frustrating sometimes playing games from an 'educated' view. I don't want to just shoot things and kill things in the most gory way possible, I demand creativity, something fun and involving, ingenuity. It exists but you have to fish through an awful lot of crap shoot-em-ups to get there. But then, the clip at the end which was from about 20 years ago said exactly that, so it's hardly a new problem.

Last Wednesday we went to see 'Up' in 3D. And God it was good. Wall:E and Ratatouille have been my favourite Pixar films so I was ready to let this one lull a little I guess but days later I'm still thinking about it. It really affected me quite a lot. I could tell from the beginning that it was going to be an emotional roller coaster. And that picture montage nearer the end made me cry (no mean feat I can tell you). I was glad that Pixar had gone back to doing comedy/dramas as opposed to drama/comedy's, it made a nice change. It was beautiful too and the 3D really added to it, which I didn't expect. A woman outside the cinema afterwards was taking comments from people who had just seen it and excitingly our comments are up on the website: http://web.orange.co.uk/p/film/details/up?lat=null&lng=null Unfortunately I sound like a simpleton. I was much more eloquant and my comment of it being 'joyous' is missing. Boo to that. It was very strange how the cinema was full of 20-somethings. No kids at all. But as James rightly said, people our age have grown up with Pixar and it's a nice thing to have. And it's interesting seeing how the films have grown with us and how they will continue to develop. So yeah, I loved it.

I think the only other main thing worhty of note is that I've been listening to lots of music. Stupidly I'm buying old 80s stuff while still buying lots of new a stuff. I must curb the spending for a bit. But y'know, the Strawberry Switchblade Best Of was a fiver. What are you going to do? Other albums I've been listening to include the new Natalie Imbruglia (excellent but really needs more than 10 tracks in order for the album to breathe more), Dragonette (bloody good!), Venus Hum (not what I expected, less intense than their other stuff, still great though) and Saint Etienne's 'Foxbase Beta'. Richard X's done a great job of updating the album's sound while not wrecking it totally. Oh, and I'm still listening to Dannii's 'Neon Nights'. Where has that album been all my life? Oh, and of course today is Annie day! If her new album isn't in my post box when I get home in ten minutes I will kill someone. Mind you, it's not like I've been waiting 18 months for it already is it?...

Talking of music, I'm thinking of starting a blog (on Blogger which I think is much nicer and better than LJ funnily enough) dedicated to music lists. It'll be for me more than anyone else but I want to do some kind of countdown of the 00s best singles. I've got a spreadsheet going and I just add songs to it when I think of them. I'm on about 350 so far but I want to cut it down really. Dunno how long to make it though. Bah.

Current Mood: busy

Well today is not the best of days. I went for an interview yesterday at Leeds College of Art and I'm guessing that the silence following means that I haven't got it. I'm really annoyed with myself about it really. There were only four candidates so I had a good chance. The job had change which site it was based at so I had a tour of both sites and both are lovely small libraries. The one where the job was based was more FE orientated which would have been nice and different. It didn't help that I mucked up the test good and proper. I had to put 20 books in Dewey order (easy) and then write down the bibliographic reference of one of them. I still don't know what that means. Harvard reference? I think I was thrown by the fact that they told us that the job would entail a lot of cataloguing and since I'd never catalogued a book in my life I wrote it as a catalogue reference, or what I thought one would look like anyway. Still, I was prepared to sell myself at the interview and talk about how my current workplace even has its courses validated by the Open University as well and how it was clearly meant to be. However, I didn't get a chance to sell myself at all as the interview took about 15 minutes. I talked about why I wanted the job and was given a few scenarios which were easy enough but I didn't get to say much as all. I had all kinds of things to say about equal opportunities and all sorts. I'm so fed up about it all. I've got another job to apply for which would usually keep me going a bit but it's a medical library and I know less about that than I do about art! Why do libraries hate me so much?!

I dunno if I've been up to much else this week. We've been catching up on TV stuff I guess. We've finished watching the (not so) new series of Skins which was fairly good. So many of the characters are massive dicks though, I found it hard to care and wanted a fair few of them to get what they deserved. The excessive and over-exaggerated use of drink, drugs and sex was also a little off-putting. I know that's the point of Skins but I found it really divorced from reality this time around. Also - extremely mopey. More so than the last lot. It's had its moments though. We're also coming to the end of Medium series 3 which is brilliant. It's one of the most underrated shows. It's quite X-file-y but the excellent family scenes ground it so well. It's a joy to watch, and so original with it. The way its filmed is also quite interesting. A lot of 'cop' shows such as Monk and Psyche are quite bright and comedy based but Medium has more in common with Without A Trace which is more dramatic, but with great comedy touches.

We're continuing very slowly through our trip through every Bond film. We're on Roger Moore now. I've not seen many of his. After Diamonds Are Forever though I'm glad to get to him. It was fairly rubbish all told. Flat on all points. Live and Let Die though was fiarly solid I thought. James prefers Moore to Connery and I can see where he's coming from. Moore is a lot more suave and seems to suit the role better somehow. I do quite like Sean Connery still. The only major bad thing about Live and Let Die is the awful boat chase near the end. Well, the chase itself is very good (and there are a lot of good chanses in the film) but it's slowed down by being broken up by crap policemen bits. And that goddamn awful Sheriff character, just awful.

The other thing of note that we've been doing is watching all of Madonna's music videos right from the start. The Celebration doesn't cover them all so we're watching the ones it misses out in-between the ones that are on there. I'm a bit ignorant of Madonna pre-Ray of Light so it's been a bit of an education to me. It's funny how time has a habit of just remembering the 'classics' and one of the joys of watching everything she's done is that I've become familiar with songs I've never heard of. It's so odd that there are either songs I had no idea existed ('Fever', 'Bad Girl') or videos I've never seen. Also interesting is that not all of her early stuff is as amazing as people seem to think. The Immaculate Collection is pretty solid but then there's stuff like 'True Blue' which is fairly terrible. On the whole though I'm much more of a 1998-onwards fan. Still the highlights in terms of music and video are (for me): 'Material Girl', 'Papa Don't Preach', 'Express Yourself', 'Vogue', 'Bedtime Story', 'Ray of Light', 'Don't Tell Me' and 'Hung Up'. We did the Evita and Music era last night and 'Music' still sounds incredibly weird to me. It's just such an odd song. There's loads going on, lots of weird noises and yet it just works. 'Don't Tell Me' is one of my favourite Madonna songs though. There's just something about the video, the production and the song which is utterly spot on. I think the same about 'Ray Of Light' too. Gutted that 'Nothing Really Matters' isn't on the DVD though, it's an excellent video. Also, her look from 1998-2002 is proof that she doesn't need her get her vadge out to look great. She's in her 40s at that time and she looks excellent, really classy and stylish. Put the Hard Candy away love!

Last me and James went to the Playhouse to see Dial M for Murder. It was very good. Even with a minimalist set (one room) they were still inventive with it. It was beautifully lit, mostly with shades of red but sometimes blue too and they created great shadowing, giving it a contemporary noir feel. The music was very noirish and very effective especially the 'murder' scene. I didn't know the story beforehand which made it even better. There's quite a lot talking at the beginning but once you get past that it's really thriller-ish and just great stuff. I love the theatre I really do, it's probably my favourite of stage show. I do like dance and seeing orchestras play but I always feel like there's something missing from them, which is why I enjoy the theatre and musicals so much - they have everything great in them. Speaking of which, we're off to London next month to see Blood Brothers with Mel C in. It's James' desire to go rather than mine but I love seeing shows so I'll see anything, plus Mel C was the best Spice Girl after all. We've also just booked La Cage Aux Folles to see while we're down there as well with John Barrowman in it! I might get Lucy an autograph to bring back, ha.

We've been getting back into our Bond films again so we're working our way through them slowly but surely. Over the week we've watched You Only Live Twice and then Never Say Never Again. The former is pretty good, I've seen it before. There's something lacking though, I'm not quite sure what. The latter was really good. After first watching it I wasn't convinced but after james arguing that it's one of the best I can see where he's coming from. It's not really a Bond film per se but it has good stuff going for it, especially the brave ending. It's all good stuff though.

I don't really have that much to update otherwise. I've mostly been spending the time listening to Strawberry Switchblade and playing the new Professor Layton game. Tonight I'm off out with James workmates/friends which should be good. I kind want to go dancing but only if somewhere plays Shakira's 'She-Wolf'. Trouble is, everywhere will be full of freshers right now!

I caught Alexandra Burke's new video the other day, and while i prefer the song much more than anything that Leona's released I can't help but feel that it's ten times more cynical. It's almost as if Syco thought, hmmm, she's British but there's not much money to be made here, and we did so well with Leona - let's go for the most American sounding song ever. Kerching. It just really grates with me.

It's funny, I seem to be importing a lot of music recently. I don't think it's for any other reason than it's not available in the UK but I'm waiting for Dragonette's album fro Canada, Venus Hum's from America and Natalie Imbruglia's from Australia (and if it's not released there I will hunt her down! How dare she pull the release until February for everywhere else?! Clearly the new Annie :( ). Good stuff!

Current Mood: bouncy

Hooray for actually having time to write my LJ! Although, the reason I haven't written means that I haven't had much to write. The last week has been absolutely hell as I've been doing my dissertation. Pure evil. I'm surprised that I found so much to write about but it was still like pulling teeth to write it. Usually I settle into an essay an even enjoy it slightly but I've resented doing this one every step of the way. It doesn't help that I know that for the rest of my life all I'll get from people is, 'Oh, you need a Masters to be a librarian?' type comments. To be honest, I nearly had a heart attack when I found out that it was worth 4 modules worth of credits. Let's just say that I didn't put 4 modules worth of effort into it. I doubt I could have made it better but it was short. Either way, on Friday I headed to Uni to hand it in. It felt weird being back on campus but handing it in did put me on a high. I will feel better once I get a final mark back and know I'm going to graduate but for now I'm glad to see the back of it. I can't quite get my head round being able to spend my free time however I like.

To celebrate, James took me out for a meal at my favourite restaurant, Little Tokyo. We got to sit upstairs which is a first and we were next to wonderful fish tanks they have. Just don't look them in the eye when you're eating your sashimi! We had a mixed starter to share which was wonderful, then I had a beef bento box. Whenever I look at the menu I try so hard to have something different but every time I'm drawn back to the bento boxes. They are that good. James has sushi. One of them had cavier on them which was exciting as neither of us had had it before. I have to say that it's a little overrated. It's not a squidgy as I though it'd be though. Then for dessert I had lychee ice cream which is possibly the nicest ice cream flavour I've tasted. It helps that they come in ice bowls too! Pina Colada's were drunk too. Yum. And it was all paid for by James, which was very nice of him.

One thing that I forgot to write about in my last entry was that we went to factory two weekends back as part of National Heritage Day. There were quite a few things on in Leeds but we went to a factory near us which has an art deco canteen, a throwback from the war. It sounds a bit odd but it wasn't really. The most odd thing was that the Leeds Gilbert and Sullivan society were there and did a little performance. Pretty good it was too.

Speaking of odd, a week last Friday we went to see Dracula the ballet at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. It was very good although it was a little confusing, even if you'd read the book like I had. We'd had a confusing time booking the tickets for boring reasons so we weren't sure where we'd booked to sit. But we ended up four rows back at the side. I'd never been so close! It was great though. A great mix of classical ballet and contemporary dance. I probably prefer plays to dance in general though as sometimes you really want someone on stage to scream or say something! I really enjoyed it though. It beggers belief how you choreograph something like that. Worst part? The beginning where a naked Dracula climbed out of the coffin...and someone in the audience laughed. I mean, for fuck's sake!

I'm not sure if there's much else to update life wise. However, I really need to mention the whole Sugababes debacle. Watching the whole thing unfold on the Popjustice forums was like a car crash (although the aftermath wasn't pretty as it seems to have been flooded with idiots soon after!) but it's very interesting. If you exchange every member of the Sugababes with new members are they really still the Sugababes? In my eyes no but then I've always preferred Girls Aloud. I am a bit worried what I'll do if they go on to release great new stuff though, which will lead me to wonder if pop music as a 'brand' is really a good thing or not. However, to me they're now a big joke so for now I'll stick with that argument. In other music news I'm obsessed with the new Shakira single. I don't even know why (and it's written with the guy from The Bravery!) but I bought it on good ol' CD single in HMV at the weekend. Retro.

Current Mood: bored

I haven't updated in a good while because the last week at work nothing happen. At all. Which makes it all the better that last Wednesday I finished work and started my summer hols. On Wednesday night I travelled back to Crewe. It's never a pleasure in itself but seeing my family really is. I don't really consider having moved over this way a sacrifice in the sense that I don't see my family as much as I used to but when I visit I do miss them. I miss the laughter and the full house I think, although I'd obviously go insane if I still lived with them now. 2005/6 was a miserable time! Haha.

Anyway, most of the time wasn't spent doing all that much really. Lots of Wii playing obviously, which is always fun. I always ache the day after though. My arms aren't used to the work out. I also finished Uncharted:Drake's Fortune on the PS3 which is a brilliant game. Much like what the Tomb Raider games should have become. And it looks ridiculously good. I can't imagine what computer games will look like ten years time that what we're at now. Virtual Reality anyone (on a side note, isn't it funny how VR, which is such a 90s concept, was replaced with stuff like the Wii and Project Natal, the latter of which is very like VR)?

I did lots of reading while I was there. Finally finished Frank Herbert's 'Dune'. God it goes on a bit but it was really good when something actually happened. Unfortunately, like Lord of the Rings, not a lot happens a hell of a lot so I was really glad to finish it. I'm not really into these mass world, lengthy description type of books. I think that computer games manage to do that tonnes better funnily enough. This might just be because I don't have the best imagination though.

Anyway, on Thursday we headed off to the Blue Planet aquarium. Jonathan drove and it must be the first time in ages that all five of us had had a day out somewhere. It was fun, even if the aquarium could have done with a few more weird and wonderful creatures. No octopus and only one type of crab. Boo. My family have recently bought the most amazing new tank and have some beautiful fish in it. Fish are in my genes I think. I want a tank! On the way back we stopped in at Snugbury's as it was an unusually warm day. Ice cream ahoy! I had coconut and elderflower and blackcurrent. Nom nom. So we ate that while looking at the cute piglets they have there. They also have a Big Ben scuplted out of hay, with a working clock too! Brilliant.

I visited Nanna Connie on the Sunday and had a tidy out of some old stuff. I've saved some but I've got rid of a load of old Uni work and posters and three bags of books went to the charity shop. Be gone old life! I did save my old diries though. I'll have to give them a read at some point although I know that they'll be ultra depressing. Especially the ones from when I was 16. On Sunday night we ate tea outside, even though it was raining, and we toasted marshmallows and sat chatting until it was dark, a lovely evening. Shame about the weather though.

Not much else to update really. Today I nipped into town and playtested my new MP3 player. It actually works and everything! I seem to be able to view film and all sorts of crazy stuff, but really, I just want to play music on it! Technology is such a headache sometimes.

I've got a lot of music to listen to at the minute. No change there then. Finally bought The Human League's 'Dare' as I really should own it. Must listen to it tomorrow. Finally bought Charliotte Hatherley's 'The Deep Blue' too and although I was wrong to dismiss it so quickly, I don't think it's as good a 'Grey Will Fade' which I have on now. Also bought Dan Black's 'Un' which is good in a wonky pop sort of way. I'm claiming credit for discovering him as I loved his old indie band 'The Servant' who no-one's heard of.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Charlotte Hatherley - The Deep Blue

James is not impressed with me at the moment. On Wednesday night, during the night I, apparently, turned over and started pinching his back. I have no recollection of this:

James: 'What are you doing?'
Me: 'Poking you.'
James: 'Why are you doing that?'
Me: 'Because it's ready.'
James: 'What's ready?'
Me: 'You are.'

Like I said, I had no memory of this but James isn't convinced as I had a big smile on my face while I said it. This was four o'clock in the morning and he couldn't get back to sleep so he is not best pleased! I don't think I've ever done anything like that before though, very strange.

On Wednesday we went to the cinema to see Coco Avant Chanel which was very interesting. I don't think I've ever been so outnumbered gender-wise in a cinema since I went to see Mama Mia! Audrey Tautou can do no wrong in my eyes and she was very, very good in this. It was quite a slow film but it was never boring which I guess is quite difficult to do, and there were some very interesting characters. The ending was a bit odd though and it could have done with some dates to tell you when when things were set as I found that a bit confusing. I enjoyed the whole thing a lot though.

As James was very tired last night we ended up watching some crap TV. We don't do it very often but I do enjoy watching rubbish with James as he gets quite irritated about it all. We watched Snog, Marry, Avoid (amazing) and then How The Other Half Live which was less amazing and made me a bit uncomfortable at some points. During watching TV I got a strange call from a man at 'the theatre' asking me if I wanted a part in his play! At first I thought that the West Yorkshire Playhouse had gone down the pan but it's since occurred to me that it might be someone from Skipton Theatre. Either way it's odd as I haven't volunteered there for over two years. Must be desperate.

My IPod has arrived and although I struggled to work it with my computer at first I seem to have sorted it out and I love it dearly. I've become a bit obsessed about finding the right artwork for everything which I really shouldn't get hung up about seeing as I haven't got the space to keep loads of music on my laptop. It's black and it's sexy. Yum yum.

I keep going back to Facebook to look at people I went to school with. I've done it before of course but I'm becoming a bit obsessed by it at the moment. I'm just fascinated by what that look like. My old colleague Liz used to go to a lot of her school reunions (she's twenty years older than me) and she always said that 'people turn out exactly like you think they will' and I agree. That rough-looking, ginger bully who pick on you at school? Well, he's still a rough-looking ginger (and I assume) bully too. An amazing number of people have never left Crewe either which probably explains why I'm not in contact with them any more really. There are also a fair number of people who are either married or have kids, like loads of them! I guess at 25 that's not as weird as it could be but to me and my life, it's all very strange. It all just feels so distant from me. I'm loath to say that I transcended to be middle class because that would be twattish but I guess as a liberal person who went to Uni I'm bound to have picked up some middle class elements. It's just, the things I do, the life I lead, I could never go back and live and Crewe and just be me. I'd go mad. I used to make my old colleague Stella laugh when I said that Crewe people all have the same look on their face - that slightly grimacing, face-like-a-smacked-arse face. I dunno why I'm writing all this down. It just feels like I've come so far in a way, and I should be quite proud of it, because nearly all of the people I went to school with, including my old friends were, well, let's just say that I'm better off for no longer knowing them. I may not have many (any?) close friends but I do have friends and get out and about because of them.

I guess the main thing that's been going on of late is part 112 of my body being crap. The funny turns have continued and I had my third one on Saturday, in the cinema of all places! It's getting ridiculous. We went to see The Hangover and thankfully I managed to make it through. I'm not really into films like that but it was really funny, I did enjoy it, albeit not as much as I would have done had I not been scared of passing out. I was fine when I got out into the fresh air though.

I've felt a bit rubbish about not being well this weekend as we had a busy one, and I hate having to concentrate on not having an attack instead of not being myself. I was a bit worried that Julia and Amy thought me miserable/anti-social when this really isn't the case. Anyway, I went to the doctors on Monday in a desperate bid to find out what's wrong with me and despite waiting for an hour, and me stressing to the doctor that I have NOT been having panic attacks and that what I feel is like a panic attack except I have illness rather than anxiety, seemed to think that there was nothing to worry about. He said that I've got to learn to control the attacks when they happen because the deep breathing is causing the pins and needles, subsequent dizziness and loss of appetite. That I can accept but you're not slightly dizzy for days after a panic attack are you? I've always been sympathetic to mental health sufferers who struggle to describe their condition but on Monday I totally got it. I couldn't say that 'it hurts here' or 'I have a cut here' so what I was being told by the doctor really wasn't really satisfying me. Yesterday I had this awful pressure in my neck which moved up into my head in the evening though. It was weird as it didn't hurt.

I do think that this is the key to it all though. Neural problems are in my family although it's nothing diagnosable. My great Auntie had back problems, not aching ones, but trouble bending, those kind of problems. My Mum has a slight tick in head/neck and all three of us had/have awful eyesight. My uncle also has awful nerves. So while there's no pattern as such, I can totally see why I would have problems of this nature. I guess I'll just have to deal with it unless I have another attack happens or something else does. The doctor did say that if it does happen again then they can run simple tests. Better than nowt I guess. It just worries me really as I'm only 25 and should be perfectly healthy. The irony though? I've been exercising more lately in order to get fitter! But I've had to stop for a bit as I' terrified I'll kill myself!

Anyway, that was a bit lengthy and boring so on to better things. We had James' sister Julia come to stay over the weekend as we'd managed to get her a ticket for Party In The Park on Sunday. So on Saturday we went to Bella Italia and then the cinema and then the three of us plus Amy went to the Party In The Park. Getting there was a bit of a nightmare as we went to get the free bus, only to find that the queu was literally streets long. So we gave up and Amy drove us! Traffic was obviously bad but we got there eventually. After 2 though so we missed the start. It wasn't like a normal festival thing where the bigger acts are higher up the bill. It was all over the place, and there were acts we didn't know about. So annoyingly we missed Sophie-Ellis Bextor who I really wanted to see, I do love her so. We got there just as VV Brown was on which was a nice surprise as I really like her album at the moment. Sadly though, she only did 'Shark In The Water' and left before we could even sit down! The stage area was great though. It was in a dip so you got a great view wherever you sat. So the acts we did see were in order:

Blazing Squad - Yes, you read that right. We were not expecting this for obvious reasons. Still, they didn't win me over and Kenzie's strange muscular body does not fit his head. Just wrong.
Frankmusik - Very good! I can't make my mind up if I'm a fan yet but live he was very good. He did 'Better Off As Two' and 'Confusion Girl'
IronikI - Alright. Tonnes better when he was doing 'Tiny Dancer' though!
Girls Can't Catch - We saw these as support for The Saturdays and didn't like them. They've got better though.
Taio Cruz - i can't remember anything about him! Not really my thing :s
Little Boots - Amazing! She did 'Stuck On Repeat', ' Remedy' and 'New In Town' which are probably my three favourites. Very glad to have seen her as her album is one of my favourites at the moment.
Alesha Dixon - I like Alesha, who doesn't? Her album is good, I like it. However, I was not prepared for how awesome she really was. The woman is a force of nature and she deserves to be a proper star...just not when she's booting Arlene Philips off Strictly Come Dancing obviously. She did 'Let's Get Excited', 'Breathe Slow' and 'The Boy Does Nothing'. Just, amazing.
Beverley Knight - Ms Knight is one of these people (like Alicia Keys) whose songs never quite match the fact that they have stunning vocals. However, she did 'Keep This Fire Burning' which as a Robyn cover I obviously love. Shame she did 'Shoulda Woulda Coulda' though as 'Come As You Are' would have been much more appreciated.
Agnes - What will she sing other than 'Release Me'? we asked. Will she do 'Release Me' the remix?! And then 'Release Me' the acoustic version to round it off? No. She did 'Release Me' and pissed off. Bye Agnes!
Preston - Worryingly, I like his solo song. However, he was very grumpy, did his song and then disappeared again.
Tinchy Stryder - Again not my thing but he was brilliant! I dont know his stuff apart from 'Number 1' but it was really good!
N-Dubz - Started with 'Number 1' obviously and then got the biggest set. They got five songs! And they were bloody awful.
Pixie Lott - Oh fuck off.
JLS - JLS were being billed as the big draw it seemed. Optimistic I thought. However, loads of people left after their set. Idiots! They were terrible though. They mimed 'Umbrella' and then mimed their rubbish-with-whiff-of-the-90s new single 'Beat Again'. In a music world which has moved on from the miming shite pop acts of the 90s, where Britney gets lynched for miming, and which has seen Girls bands move into the 21st century, JLS managed to make us feel like it is still 1997 when pop was awful and boynads flashed six packs in order to shift units. Die.
Calvin Harris - I'm not realy a fan but he was good. Obviously better when the followup joined him on-stage:
Dizzee Rascal - The man came on to a changed version of 'That's Not My Name' which included lyrics such as 'they call me rudeboy' and 'they say the N-word like it's ok'. He did 'Dance Wiv Me'. The man is amazing. Ended with 'Bonkers', I came in my pants.

So a good day all in all. Getting back was not fun. Getting out of the car park was just awful and it took us two hours to get home. Still, we had a laugh, even if the weather was terrible. I still can't believe they do it for free though. I'd have paid a fiver to go and I'm sure others would have done too.

James was in London yesterday as it was the national staff awards and he was nominated. He got the runner-up prize for his catagory and got £100! I'm very proud, especially as he was the only person to be a solo person rather than a team nomination in his catagory. He deserves it though, he's doing amazingly well at work. He's getting a bigger pay rise than anyone on his team because he's so good and his boss keeps saying that if their place stays open then they will definitely move him up. Shame the future is uncertain with it though. For some reason it's only recently that I've realised that James is one of these annoying people that are good at everything. I think it's ever since I went bowling with him that it dawned on me. He's even good at sporting events! He's good at being pretty too! Amy calls him WikiJames because he knows lots. Makes you sick doesn't it? (NB: he is mine!)

Oh, while James was in London he went to see the fourth plinth. It's no secret that I love it and I was very jealous. Turned out that yesterday was a great day for nutjobs too. Anyway, he rang me at work and looked at the live stream and I could see him waving! Amazing! Also on the plinth yesterday - an amazing gay man that dressed up in drag complete with feathers, then dressed as the Angel of the North and then got stark bollock naked. Great. Also of note - a woman who brought four other wman along with her and did a performance piece where they pretended to be pigeons. Nuts.

We watched Dorian Blues the other day which was quite a good, gay, TV film. It felt quite real in a way and while it was funny it was also quite serious. A nice portrayal of leaving home, coming to terms with your sexuality, and fatherly relations, especially from a US point of view.

Current Mood: okay

Well I haven't updated because I've been ill - again. I had a total relapse on Tuesday of what happened on the train two weeks ago and it's been worse as I've felt generally crap and achey. It's been difficult to describe and although I don't feel 100% still, I do feel tonnes better than I have been. Oh, it's not been swine flu. That's reared its ugly head at work though as Debbie has it. Because she was always going to get it, she's just that type of person. Anything that she can have to get her some attention, it's hers. Plus she emailed our Head of Estates to tell him so he'd impliment our 'pandemic plans'. Thankfully he knew what an attention seeking mental case she is and has proceded with caution. God I'd better get this job at York Uni. Another reason I need to move on is the tweaked structure. People are starting to jump ship what with it being the end of the academic year, so I could end up with a horrendous line manager. Still, things have softened a little today as we're being given our 5% pay rise next month, the one that was promised us earlier in the year before the money had been pissed away.

I had to make myself better for today anyway as my work team went out to lunch at Little Tokyo, my favourite restaurant. Much fun, although my appetite isn't fully back, which is a shame. Still, I do feel better for going somewhere, the last three days have basically involved me at home, not doing a lot. I have realised though, that I haven't written about the books I've read recently. Actually, I've only read two. I read Alan Carr's autobiography which was great. Nothing revolutionary but it's fascinating reading about how comedians make it. Especially learning how much comedians have to pay to perform at the Edinburgh Festival! As ever with Alan there were two or three bits that had me in stitches. The best one being the 'phantom shitter' who worked at the call centre. Imagine working with someone who left massive shits in the corridors! Awful. The other book I've read is Christopher Rice's 'Density of Souls'. I do love fiction with a good gay character in it. The back describes as a mix between Donna Tartt and Stephen King which is spot on, especially on account of the large cast of well rounded characters. There's a slightly odd twist at the end though which I'm not sure was necessary. I didn enjoy it though. I'm now reading 'And We Came To The End' which is set in an office. I expected it to be like Dilbert but it's a tiny bit more serious than that. It's very funny though so far. I'm determined to read more, I might take a few books on holiday with me to really get into it.

Game-wise, I've just finished Broken Sword for the DS which was excellent, even if I did miss the voices. I spoke to my sister before I played it the other week and she couldn't believe I had trouble with the goat bit in the original. She'd only played it on the DS. Well, no wonder she didn't believe it, they've changed it make it easier! And I'm sure they've changed some other bits as well. Nico's side-mission is a welcome addition though. I've finished the special edition of Monkey Island as well whcih was ace. I wish I didn't know it as well though, I'm far too familiar with it for it to have the same puzzly, wow factor it did when I'd only played it once or twice. Hearing the characters talk is great though I have to say and it's still very funny. i wish they produced more point and click adventures. Still, I'm happy to play the old ones for now. Also on the Xbox360 I've finished Beautiful Katamari which is wonderfully bonkers, now I'm on to Mass Effect which is turning out to be very deep, but very interesting. It's like playing a massive book!

I got VV Brown and Florance and the Machine's albums the other day and both are very good in different ways. James did make a comment about how everyone around is a solo female but I don't care as they're all pretty good, and they're not all the same I think. Tis Party In The Park on Sunday and it turns out that they've added to the line-up so it looks like this:

Sugababes
Dizzee Rascal
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Alesha Dixon
Beverley Knight
N-Dubz
JLS
Booty Luv
Little Boots
Pixie Lott
Tinchy Strider
Ironik
Agnes
Girls Can't Catch
Raygun
Steve Appleton
Dolly Rockers

Actually, that's quite a lot when I look at it. The show is only four hours so I'm guessing it'll be one song each which is a shame! All the ones I want to see are a little high up though so they might get a few songs. Mind you, I'll be pissed by the time Pixie Lott comes on, alcohol is the only thing that'll get me through that woman! I can't complain though, it is free after all.

The only other thing I've done of note is watch Wall:E on DVD. I do love it so, although something in the back of my mind wishes that the humans in it could be 'real' people, especially because the first half an hour looks so stunning without them. Oh, on the DVD is the story of Pixar which is well worth it as it's a 90 minute long documentary, very interesting.

Current Mood: ditzy

So last night we went to see The Saturdays, having had the date re-scheduled. I'd not been to Manchester Apollo before and I can see why. It's in an odd place and it really feels like you're in the centre of an industrial estate. Plus a family of lost scousers gave us life half way down the road to the venue, very odd. The stage area and seating isn't too bad, it's just the rest of the place! Anyway, The Saturdays were really good. It was nice watching a pop band in such an intimate venue and they made it look very pretty considering they didn't change the set at any time. And Vanessa has a fair set of lungs on her. So yeah, it was fun. Setlist:

Up (intro)
If This Is Love
Set Me Off
Keep Her
Just Can't Get Enough
Wordshaker
Why Me Why Now (Done in a Mo-town style)
Fall
Beggin' (Acoustic)
Chasing Lights (Acoustic)

Break (The video screen showed clips from their video diaries)

Medley (Shut Up And Drive/I Kissed A Girl/So What)
One Shot
Lies
Work
--------
Issues
Up

The way back wasn't so fun as I was feeling really rough and the train journey was hell. I felt rough and it kept coming in waves. I didn't know if I was going to throw up or faint. Thankfully I did neither but I was so glad to get home and sleep. I'm off work today as I'm still not feeling 100%, God knows what's wrong with me. I've been spending time with the Girls Aloud box set though, that's made me feel better, as has playing lots of Sonic the Hedgehog.

I forgot to mention in my last entry that to go with my Britpop CD I'd also read through the Britpop edition of Mojo and it made for an interesting read. The one thing that stood out was the immense pressure that bands of that time felt and it's had long lasting effects. Brett Anderson and Justine Frischmann seem tobe really scarred by it all. Whether Britpop is looked at through rose-tinted glasses doesn't really matter, it was clearly a strange time for music.

It was my Grandma's birthday yesterday. I'm used to her being the age she is for obvious reasons but I wrote it in her card and it occurred to me that it's pretty amazing. She's 95, amazing. I sent her a card with a chicken on it as that's our in-joke really. So here's to you Nanna Connie, you're one brilliant Granny.

In other news, me and James are thinking of going to Austria for our holidays. We've found a really cheap deal that seems too good to be true. Doesn't anyone know the place? We're looking at Innsbruck which is in the Alps, but apparently it's easy to have day trips to Germany and other places too which sounds great as it was similar in Iceland and that worked well. It seems really lovely and it's excitingas we didn't think we'd get to go away this summer. Besides, we've got to kept up our reputation for going to unusual places right?

Current Mood: sick
Current Music: Girls Aloud B-sides

Apparently I haven't updated in a week. I have a feeling that my entries will now become a little more frequent as a new web filtering system has come into effect at work and the onyl website I can not get onto is the Popjustice forums. They were the only thing getting me through the day! God forbid that I should actually do some proper work. Things are desperate people, and there are no jobs out there *weeps* and that library job I applied for has come to nothing even though I had all of the essential and desirable criteria *double weeps*.

It isn't all bad though. Last Thursday I headed to Uni to return some library. Because things are never easy with Leeds Met it turned out that my library account had been stopped as my course end date was down as June. It was a blessing in disguise though as in talking to the admin lady in the postgrad offices I not only got my final result, but I was also told that there would be no November graduation. So I won't be graduating until next July! Very weird as I'm sure I'll have forgotten about the whole thing by then. Anyway, my final mark was for a management essay - 67 which I was very pleased with and leaves me with my total PG Dip marks as follws: 56, 63, 63, 65, 66, 68 so I'm doing pretty well. I can't seem to find out how much my dissertation counts for though. It's odd that I'm at this point, two years down the line. Soon I will be done and dusted and I can forget about it. I'm very pleased with it all though (even though writing down six marks doesn't look like a lot!). It's been difficult studying and working and it's been a long time coming. Now I just need the sodding job to go with it.

On Saturday we had one of our trips out with Bev and Charlotte. We went to the Thackray museum which is all about the history of medicine. It's quite fascinating although a bit grim. So grim in fact that I, errrr, fainted. It was very odd as I'm not usually squeamish. I can watch gore on the TV or at the cinema and I'm fine, but I think that the whole place was a bit unrelenting for me. We got past the gential impliments and we just reached the section called 'pus' and I just couldn't take anymore. It was odd, I've only ever fainted once before but this time I could tell it was coming, and then I was on the floor. I was prepared so I went down quite lightly. Very embarassing, especially in front of Charlotte and Bev. Thankfully Bev knew first aid so she looked after me. Annoyingly it turned out that 'pus' was the last historical horrible bit and we were nearly at the end! The whole thing was forgotten about pretty quickly and it was quiet day in there. Just as well. Honestly, I am useless sometimes.

Apart from that it was a good day. Dinner was nice and we got to play in the kiddie section. Giant board games ahoy! Maybe next time's trip out could be somewhere a little less gory! The weekend was fairly quiet otherwise. I watched bits of the Wimbledon finals. I was rooting for Roddick in the men's although I didn't watch the whole thing as it was long and they were fairly evenly match. Despite that though, I didn't think it was all that exciting so I just kept flicking back to it.

We watched Midnight Run over the weekend as well which was really good. Very funny. They don't do films like that anymore as I do like 80s buddy films. That reminds me, I need to do Lucy's poll! I always feel like the 00s has been a bit of a lull for films. I mean, there have been plenty of good ones, but every film seems to derive from a comic (although there have been plenty of those done well) and comedy has been reduced to the 'Movie' franchise (Scary Movie, Date Movie etc, ad nausum). It just seems like films have got lazier somehow.

I've recently sold a load of DS games on eBay and I sold 6 games for £70! I was very surprised by this and I've been itching to sell other stuff since. I don't really have a lot of stuff to get rid of though, especially not stuff that's worth its value! Still, I've been spending a little of the money on new games. I'm awaiting the Sega Megadrive Collection which I'm very excited about. I dunno, it's 2009 and I'm excited about a bunch of Sonic games from 1991! The thing is, I never had a Megadrive the first time round so I missed out on playing a lot of the famous games from around then and I'm one of these people who enjoys games no matter what their age. Speaking of 1991, next Friday marks the updated release of the orignal Monkey Island. I've been awaiting this for a while and I'm very excited. So yeah for that.

Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to spend my money though as I need it to pay off the package I got this morning. Yes people, my Girls Aloud boxset came! And my God it's good. There's so much stuff on it it'll take me ages to get through it all. And there's a brilliant book which comments on each single. It's amusingly called 'You Can't Mistake Our Anthology' and considering I thought that the Best Of should have been called 'You Can't Mistake Our Discography' I'm very pleased with this. this kind of thing is very novel for me. I'm not a traditional pop fan as such so I've never had the joy of collecting memorabilia really. Still, with the trend of Deluxe Editions I'm benefitting more than most at the moment. And while I'm here - the La Roux album - good but flags towards the end, and not as good as the Little Boots album. So there.

Yes sir, music and computer games, that is my life. Which explains why I'll be watching The Saturdays in Manchester tonight. Finally!

PS - Torchwood was very good last night. They've finally made it good!

Current Mood: bored

"You'll never guessed how Michael Jackson has got out of those O2 gigs....he's only gone and died!"

This is how my Friday morning started. I don't really have much to say about about the King of Pop's death really, aside from it being really odd. I just needed to say that I always seem to find out about celebrity deaths in bed! I found out about Princess Diana's death in the same way. I knew it must have affected a lot of people because on the way to work that morning a tramp said that she couldn't believe the news. She may not have been a tramp as she was reading a paper. Maybe she just looked rough?

I forgot to mention in my last entry that we watched 'Treasure Planet'. This is part of my half-arsed effort to watch more Disney films as there are a fair few I've never seen. Despite is being the film blamed for sinking Disney's 2D ventures I was surprised to find that it was really good. We were talking about it afterwards and James rightly said that it's a film that you wouldn't be able to aim at anyone in particular. It's quite a boyish film and there's no sign of a princess (for a change.) anywhere so that leaves Disney out on a limb really. A shame. It's very pretty.

Last Thursday we had a visit from James' Mum and Grandma. James' Grandma hasn't been to a city in years and we were determined to show her that we didn't 'overlook slums' as she said herself. We went for dinner in Marks and Spencer and took her on a 'sight seeing tour' . She's 86 but in good nick, but we didn't want to walk her too far. Before they met us they'd already been shopping. She'd wanted to see this mythical place called Primark and I think it had tired her out somewhat. We also successfully managed to steer her away from the tranny in M+S. Anyway, she thoroughly approved of the flat which was a plus and it was a nice afternoon overall.

There was more family visitage at the weekend, this time from my family. Well, two of them anyway - my Mum and my sister. I was really glad to see them too. I'd been missing my family lately. I'm usually ok but it's nice to see them as I get on with them. James was at a flat warming so I was left to entertain. I did this in between making a cake. It's been ages since I did any baking so I did a lemon cake with a lemon curd filling and lemon icing. It was a Delia recipe and I'm thrilled with how it turned out. God it's tasty. It even had jelly diamonds on the top. So yeah, catching up was mostly done on Friday night. Oh, and a tour of the flat of course, because they'd not visited since the move. They were very impressed with it.

On Saturday we headed to Harewood House. Altough it was overcast for much of the day, it was very warm and it didn't rain at all thankfully. We hadn't been for a year but we had a really lovely day out. The bird garden is still great and we walked around the lake this time. The himilayan gardens are open which are lovely. I even saw some dragonflies which was a nice treat. At the far end there was a bee keeping demonstration at 3pm which was brilliant. Two beekeepers from the Harrogate and Ripon beekeeping association did a talk and guided us through an empty hive, then we all put beekeeping hats and went and watched a real hive being seen to. It was fascinating and really informative. The woman who was there said that she'd lost her bees this year and had no idea why which must be incredibly frustrating.

On Sunday we went around Clarance Dock where there was dragon boat racing taking place with loads of stalls too. I've given my mum the impression that there's always something going on round here and while that is true to an extent she really did come on a busy weekend! We then did some shopping. I picked up three T-shirts and a pair of trainers which was quite unexpected! So yeah, a great weekend overall.

I've been watching the tennis over the past week which I've been enjoying. I've mostly seen the Murrey matches as I've been out and about but it's good stuff. James doesn't get it at all though so I'm having to watch it around him. It's only for two weeks a year! Whenever Wimbledon's on though I always itch to play a tennis game so I've bought myself one for the Xbox. It beats actually going out to play it I guess.

I've caught some of the Glastonbury footage as well, although I've yet to watch Sunday night's stuff. Little Boots was good and I'm looking forward to seeing her at the end of July. I had to wade through some right rubbish though, especially the presenters. Awful stuff. I guess the best act I saw was Lady Gaga. After seeing her set I have officially been won over. She's clearly unhinged and I don't care how contrived her whole image is, she's brilliant. Now I have to hold out for the album re-release. The La Roux album is very good by the way, I'm listening to it now. It reminds of how I imagine the 80s to be, if that makes sense. I guess that's the idea though. Their success is odd though. I mean, I like this type of stuff anyway but I can't imagine the general public getting behind it, but somehow they have. Bulletproof is also my favourite number 1 for some time. Probably since Robyn's 'With Every Heartbeat' really. PS - I got that Britpop copy of Mojo btw. James bought it for me and it's making for good reason. There's a MIA bit and Rialto are in there! This upset me as I loved Rialto. :(

In other news, I took my bonsais out of the fridge and one of them has a shoot! I'm very pleased with this although it's a long way off being an actual tree. Also newsworthy - rumour has it that work would like me to go back to 5 days a week in September. I have mixed feeling about this but I'm hoping to get another job by then so I don't have to make the decision.

Current Mood: hot
Current Music: La Roux - La Roux

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The Secret Life of Andrew

Entries tagged with music

Include Me Out

If your life had a face, I'd punch it.

Entry Du Jour

Frogs, bodies, ostrich, mini cakes...the post that has it all.

'I'm going to bang all your friends. Consider them banged!'

My 2009

Priceless discounts

Charlie Big Potato

'What do you want? Whadda you want for BREAKFAST?!'

Squirrel!

Face it, she's Madonna

Dial W for Weekend

'Darling there's a she-wolf in me, let it out and set me free'

'Summer is coming...'

Confusion Boy

Mostly boring and rambling. I'm sorry!

July - month of pestilence

Talking 'bout pop, Britpop

'Up is where we go from here'

'This time baby I'll be bulletproof'