Monday, January 30, 2006

DJ Lurch on the rings of steel


I'm DJing at the Volks Club in Brighton for Carnival Collective on Feb 17th, 11pm to 4am (what!! 4am! that's way past my bed time!). More details here. I'll be downstairs DJing with DJ Carls Cock. Should be good - come on down!

That's a pic of us at the Ocean Rooms in Brighton last year. I'm on the right, loving it!

Friday, January 27, 2006

Songwriting dreams

I've started a songwriting course. Our first bit of homework is to write down our dreams. All week I've had the weirdest dreams that I really don't want to share with a group of people I've only just met.

I'm going to have to tell them the tamest dream I've had this week which was about my friend jumping on someone's back in a supermarket and them pretending to be gorillas.

In other news, I've got my new Mac and can now put things in italics. Woohoo!

Thursday, January 19, 2006

"January's obviously not a good month for him."

Drama in Poets Corner, where my studio is, as a local garage bursts into flames.

All the streets are cordoned off as there are gas cylinders in the garage which are extremely volatile.

And guess who's car was in the garage at the time of said explosion? That's right - little Burt the Clio is burnt to a cinder. And my lovely non-leather walking boots too.

God damn! I can't f**cking believe it.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

I slept with Anthony Stewart Head

I got a train from Chippenham to London yesterday. Opposite me sat someone familiar looking. He fell asleep.
"Is that the English bloke from Buffy", I thought.
"Nah" I thought.
I fell asleep as my head bounced off the train window and the saliva slowly dribbled down my chin on to the table in front of me.
"London Paddington"
As I was getting up someone started talking to the man opposite me: "You don't mind being recognised, do you?". Then I heard the distinctive voice of Anthony Stewart Head talk back to him!
I followed him down the platform in true stalker style. But then decided I really wasn't bothered.

Friday, January 13, 2006

Sad things (for Abi)

Following on from the last sad post; it made me think of other things that make me sad so I thought I'd share them:

My friend Abi tried a drug called GHB (Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate ) when she was 21. GHB is nick-named GBH and is an extremely dangerous drug, especially when taken with alcohol. Abi had two beers when she took GHB. She passed out, choked on her own vomit and never woke up. She left behind a mother whose husband had died when Abi was young and had had only one child: Abi.

Richard Brautigan, author of classic American beat literature such as Sombrero Fallout and Revenge of the Lawn, took his own life with a shotgun on his ranch in the Montana countryside. He left behind a 24 year old daughter. He was 49.

Death is always sad, more for the bereft who are left behind, but to me someone dying at 21, at the peak of their life, is incredibly sad. But also to think that someone could get to the age of 49 and still not be happy with life, still not have found peace with their self even though they had a successful daughter and should be slowing down and enjoying life, to end their life because of it, is just as incredibly sad.

Sorry for depressing you. Makes you appreciate life though eh?

Thursday, January 12, 2006

sad postcard

Is this not the saddest thing ever? :(

Lost without Lost

Aaaarrgh! What's down the shaft? Where's Walt? Who are the 'others'? What's going on?

I was hoping the end of series show would answer a few questions not create more. I always jump up and down a bit at the end of Lost as cliffhangers drive me up the wall but I had a minor tantrum last night!

Oh it's just great though isn't it?! Roll on the Spring.

PS - If you're American and have seen the second series I don't REALLY want to know the answers to the above questions.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

TOTP

Last year I promised myself I would get involved in music as much as possible. I got as far as growing a beard (all musicians have beards, even the ladies).

This year I've promised myself I would get involved in music as much as possible. So I left the carnival band that I'm in. Good start eh?! I'm going to pursue my solo career!

I've just bought a new guitar, I'm starting a song-writing course in a couple of weeks, I'm getting bass lessons from a friend, I'm doing an analogue music course in the summer and I'm going to have a go at recording some songs with friends in Hastings.

My plan is to get a band together that will be asked to play at the Big Chill. It'll be called Diarama. Nice name eh?! And, of course, we'll all have beards.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Design skills

My graphic design skills seem to be lacking. Just had a client telling me to "jazz up a leaflet" as it "looks a bit dull". Well, I feel a bit dull so it's no wonder is it?!

After five years of having my own design business I have finally thought it time to learn some graphic design skills so I've bought a nice new book of layouts and grid structure. Let's hope it helps.

Ooh, my nice new Mac is winging it's way to Beesnthings HQ so I'll finally be rid of OS9 and will be able to post photos on here. That'll be worth the £400 then.

Monday, January 09, 2006

I've fallen in love again...

...with the girl from The Shortwave Set. Just got their album, "Debt Collection" on the weekend - fantastic! Such a great piece of production. Reminds me of The Art of Noise - the fave band of my youth. Best bit of the whole album is when you hear the singer on "Yr room" fluff her guitar playing and then laugh at her mistake, stop playing and try again. She sounds lovely! Such a great song too. I had it on repeat for a good half an hour last night! I haven't done that since I was a kid!

Swwwwwwwweet!

Friday, January 06, 2006

Daniel Kitson

Seem to be getting up on the wrong side of my bed these mornings. Yesterday's rant was a bit harsh wasn't it?! Still, people with bad tastes in music should be shot.

Last night my mood was considerably lifted by seeing Daniel Kitson at the Komedia. I've never seen a stand-up with a lisp and a stutter before. At one point he got totally stuck on a word: "R-r-r-r-r-r-r-" and then just said: "r-r-r oh it's not even worth it." You've got to have guts to go on stage with a stammer like that. He was fantastic!

I'm a big lover of crap jokes so the best bit of the night was when he was asking the audience what the word palimpsest meant. With his lisp he could hardly say it, so an audience member asked how you spell it and he came back with "I. T." quick as a flash! Hilarious!

Thursday, January 05, 2006

*Yawns*

Ho hum. *yawns*

How do you make a leaflet appealing when you've been supplied boring photos and predictable text? The charity I work for, to make use of precious printed space, make me cram the equivalent of the Encyclopedia Brittanica on the back of a postage stamp and then wonder why the text looks a bit squashed.

How do you be creative when it's freezing cold and someone's playing shit music? The One Giant Leap CD never did it for me - any CD with the name Robbie Williams on it, no matter how well hidden, should never be allowed stereo equipment. Who the hell wants to hear his wimpy nursery-rhyme rapping? Someone in my studio apparently. Either the whingey red-head who whinges at any music that isn't hers and paints like a fucking two year old. Or the Swindon public school boy who likes Gwen-fucking-Stefani and can't start a sentence without a nasal "yeeeah" in front of it, whose speciality is painting women with their hands up their bums. Bloody cloth ears.

Now back to laying out another chapter of the never-ending gardening book. Ah, the joys of the self-employed graphic designer.

*yawns*

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

The bloody oak tree

As equally as I always want what I can't have, I also don't want what I've been given on a plate. A seed of doubt about the new girlf not being 'the one' has grown to gigantic oak tree proportions. I'm enjoying going out with her but there's a bloody big tree in the way now.