Deaf and happy?

This was how I was supposed to be after last night’s gig according to my friend. Post gig I was just deaf. Seriously couldn’t hear out of my left ear. Anyway the hearing is back now so not to panic.

We went to go and see The Thermals last night, an American band on their fourth album who describe themselves in a variety of genre-guiding adjectives but mainly stick to the very clear indie/alternative/post-pop-punk rock band description.

So to be honest, they’re not really my gin and tonic; I thought they sounded quite similar to a (much) louder version of New Found Glory strangely enough! The set list comprised of about 15 two minute songs that all merged into one long ear shattering cacophony of noise with not really much distinction between them. I say “much” because there were a couple of tracks that caught my interest if only for 30 seconds. Aside from the music there were however a few of things that caught my interest and entertained me:
1. The bassist’s hair is awesome. Really short and curly and the most bouncy hair I’ve ever seen and as she strummed the bass her head bobbed back and forth like a broken jack in the box and her hair bounced all over the place with a life of it’s own.
2. The crowd at the front seemed to be full of floppy haired, glasses wearing young boys who started off nodding their heads in time like they were auditioning for the role of the noddy dog in the Churchill adverts, this then progressed on to jumping up and down on the spot yet not in time with the music or each other. Eventually they found their rhythm and began jumping in unison but their arms remained glued to their sides. This looked most odd.
3. The drummer is the happiest/craziest person I’ve ever seen.

On reflection, when I logged on to their website this morning to try and find a video to post, I did quite enjoy the lyrics of the songs so perhaps it was just a shame that you couldn’t really hear the lyrics at the gig over everything else. Anyway, here’s a video of one of the songs from their new album.



I also wanted to mention the support band, Sketches, who I thought were actually better than the Thermals. Apart from the fact that I thought the lead singer was about to die at any second because he was so skinny (honestly, I thought his shin bone was going to come splintering out of his skin as he was stamping his foot on stage), I enjoyed this more. Their single is out now so here’s a link to their myspace also.

The westbound platform

What is it that you need to make the journey in to work an enjoyable experience? Ok well, if not enjoyable then at least less fraught with obligation. Is it your favourite CD blaring from your car stereo; or a completely engrossing book to keep you company on the train? Perhaps it’s just a smile from the cute guy who gets the same bus. It most certainly is not the train announcer on the westbound platform at Victoria underground station at 8am. A pre-requisite for a train announcer’s job should be that you are not an annoying, most probably failed radio DJ who loves the sound of your own voice. Good God woman take a breath and give our poor bleeding ears a rest! On and on she drones every morning in the most ridiculous voice that sounds like she’s announcing the entrance of the Queen of England, in a never ending clash of syllables littered with what I can only imagine she thinks are “dramatic pauses”.

E.G

“Good morning ladies and gentleman (always starting nice and polite, lulling you into a false sense of security), the train shortly arriving on this westbound platform will be… (insert dramatic pause)… a district line train to Wimbledon. Please stand behind the yellow line for your own safety, please stand behind the yellow line (ok, we heard you the first time lady but thanks for your concern). That’s a district line train to Wimbledon now arriving on the platform calling at Sloane Square, South Kensington, Gloucester Road, Earl’s Court, Putney Bridge and all stations to Wimbledon (hmmm, slightly annoyiong to list EVERY station on the line but maybe helpful for those who can’t see). Please allow customers off the train before boarding and mind the gap between the train and the platform. Once again, please allow all passengers off the train before boarding…(insert dramatic pause) … and mind the gap between the train and the platform (ok, this repetition is really starting to make my head want to explode). The next train to arrive on the platform will be a circle line train in 3 minutes calling at South Kensington, Gloucester Road, High Street Kensington, Notting Hill Gate, Paddington and all stations via Baker Street (ahhhh, again with the listing of stations!). As you enter the platform please move to you left, move to you left (and ahhhh, again with the repetition!) as you enter the platform ladies and gentleman otherwise you are blocking the entrances to the platform. There is plenty of space at the end of the platform so please turn left as you enter the platform. DO NOT TURN RIGHT (don’t tell me what to do!). And please stand behind the yellow lines. THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY (for your own safety I suggest you stop talking!). The train now arriving on the platform is a circle line train…(insert dramatic pause) a circle line train. I repeat the train now arriving…”

Ok and by this point I just want to throw myself in front of the circle line train which I would know is calling at South Kensington blah blah blah even if I hadn’t just had it drilled in to my brain like an annoying little woodpecker drilling a hole in a tree trunk because I can read it on the big tube maps that are plastered everywhere. And it is relentless. I’m sure her mother must have gotten her manners lessons quite wrong and instead of instilling in her daughter the polite action “If you don’t have something nice to say then don’t say anything at all”, filled her daughter’s head with “If you don’t have something to say, say something, ANYTHING, anyway”.

Ode to love

I was going through some of my old writing and came across this jolly little poem that I remeber writing a few years ago whilst sat in wandsworth park in the brilliant sunshine supposedly quite happy with life.

Colour me black, not yellow, or red.
Inside I'm burnt, my soul is dead.

Dismiss my smile, for it's full of deciet,
Rattling pathetically, my heart beats it's last beat.

I see before me in rows of hundreds,
Spirits deceased, the living out-numbered.

The want of lust is a given pain,
endured through a life lived in vain.

To stop wanting is torture, so i succumbed,
Now bleeding and broken, my body is numbed.

Forget that laugh, it was delivered in jest,
Covering the spears that penetrate my chest.
Molten lava pumps from my heart

...It's better to stop, before you start.

Joyfull eh?

8 weeks later

Oh, and in other news: our kettle is now fully functioning once more. Yay! Tea and coffee can now be made once again without the absolute faff of boiling water in a saucepan and then trying gingerly to pour this boiling hot water into a mug without scalding any body parts. Those of you who read The Pact of the Household Appliances post here will probably be stunned into silence knowing that the kettle broke at the beginning of April (along with the boiler and the washing machine). Um, yeah so 8 weeks later and it’s now working again. You’ll be pleased to know that the boiler and washing machine were fixed within the first week so we have been able to shower and wash our clothes, just not able to have biscuit dunking competitions. I am utterly and completely ashamed to say that it took a male friend of ours to come round and fix it. We girls had managed to come to the conclusion that it was most likely the fuse that had gone but none of us could a) really be bothered and b) weren’t entirely completely 100% sure how to fix it. So our friend came round and took the fuse out of the iron and put it in the kettle. Who irons clothes these days anyway?

Ou est le album?

To revive myself from the disappointment that I’m most probably going to miss the Lovebox Festival this year (I can still taste the salt from my tears), I headed down to Cargo on Friday night for here they had the Official Lovebox warm up (and the hundreds and thousands on the icing was that it’s a free night).

The main attraction was a band that I recently stumbled upon (literally but that’s another story) – Ou Est Le Swimming Pool who played a short but sweet set which I have to say was pretty provocative. A funky mix of poptastic lyrics and nostalgic melody’s stripped from the 80’s but brought up to speed with some wicked electro beats. Take away the sound and you would be forgiven for thinking that you’ve walked in on a group of newly pubescent lads having a laugh in their garage owing to the slightly odd, but kinda kitsch, moustaches (to be honest if I was a guy, I'd probably be impressed and actually pretty jealous of the facial hair) and the indoor sunglasses wearing on stage (see previous post on sunglasses indoors – being in a band does not excuse this). However, their track Dance the Way I Feel is absolutely brilliant in a RDMC way and the crowd seemed to agree; honestly, dancing to this track just can’t really be helped. The lyrics and the beguiling melody makes their track The Key utterly mesmerising and throughout the whole set I had a smile plastered on my face because underlying it all, Ou Est are truly uplifting.

So, I will be adding Ou Est to my playlist and hopefully hearing a lot more of them in the future.

Here’s the link to their myspace http://www.myspace.com/ouestleswimmingpool
And here’s a video for you to enjoy!

Selfishness

Selfishness - How do you know whether it’s you or the other person?

Selfish adj Chiefly concerned with one’s own interest, advantage, etc., esp. to the exclusion of the interests of others.

When it comes to relationships, not excluding friendships, there will inevitably come an instance when one party wants something that the other party does not. If neither is willing to forfeit their own desire then are both parties being selfish? When internally, each person considers their own need to be more worthy of the other’s sacrifice does right and wrong even come in to it? Which person is being selfish?

I’m not sure what the answer is. All I know is that I think compromise is important and that for a relationship to survive each person has to be willing to sometimes sacrifice; to sometimes do something you don’t want to do and to do this because you know it means something to the other person and will make them happy.

A cheeky ‘oh go on then” or “For you, ok” or even a “fine but you owe me” will go along way and you’ll probably find that they will repay you tenfold in the future. Plus, if you love them then seeing them happy will probably fill you with happiness anyway! Win win.

Fashion Victim

Good to see that asos.com is catering for a spectrum of body shapes for this season's most dire trend...ahhhhhhhhhhhh....crop tops! And we thought we only had to worry about bikinis. Oh boy.


Option 1. For the majority. Good with a high waisted pair of skinny jeans or a high waisted skirt:

Option 2: For those who have a stomach even Halle Berry would die for:

Option 3: For no-one! Not even if you are a waif. No, no, no, no, no. It's just so wrong:

Off to the gym to do 1 million sit ups. Yeah right! I'll survive in the other key trend this summer:

Thank God for Maxis!

A pet hate and a deep love

I dislike:
a) people who wear sunglasses on public transport
b) people who wear sunglasses on public transport when it is not sunny
c) people who wear sunglasses on public transport when it’s actually raining outside

You look like an idiot! Don’t do it! I am talking about someone I saw on the bus this morning. Only under 1 flimsy circumstance should this be allowed: if you have a hangover sent straight from Lucifer. I know miss floral top and sunglasses did not have a hangover and therefore cannot be excused from this idiotic behaviour. I know this because she was also carrying a home made prawn salad. In a bowl. With cling film over the top. Prawns + hangover = a no no. sunglasses + rain + public transport + bowl of prawns with cling film over the top = me thinking you're an idiot.

And I’m also slightly concerned that the glorious weather we had last week was our summer and it will now be rain until next May. I blame the BBC weather forecast.

In other more happy news, I'm going to see Mr. Hudson tonight who is officially an amazing musician. If you haven't heard his stuff yet, then the album A tale of Two Cities is fantastic and you'll probably be hearing alot more of him as he's just worked with Kanye West on the track Paranoid. I've posted one of my favourite newer tracks of his below for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

Ignorance is no longer bliss, it's dangerous

A quote from the Guardian reporting on the election of a BNP MEP for Yorkshire and Humberside:

"Ask me, I voted for them," shouted Amber, a student running across Barnsley's precinct to give her views, but not her surname. "My mam and I both voted for them, because if you want a job here, you need to colour yourself in and have a funny name."

I'm now off to start my own party where any one involved with this ignorant mobocracy is neutered at birth. I'd feel much safer knowing that my taxes were going towards this NHS procedure rather than paying for endless amounts of children to have gastric bands fitted as a quick fix for obesity due to bad parenting.

umm, best example of eco fashion ever?

WOW! There is no word better than 'wow' is there? If there is then please replace preceding Wow with whatever that word is. And actually not bad for £130. I wonder if I send a pair of old trousers to my Farmor whether she would be able to rustle something similar up......

And yes, I'm not delusional - I am fully aware that part of this dress' appeal is that it is draped over the body of the beautiful Daisy Lowe.

(Credits Bow-back dress (made from a pair of vintage trousers) £130, Junky Styling, 12 Dray Walk, The Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London E1 (020 7247 1883). Picture taken from The Guardian.co.uk)

All eyes on me, in the centre of the ring just like a circus

Wow, so I haven’t written in an absolute age – I have no excuse, I’m just lazy. Best to be honest and upfront about these things I always find!

So I experienced one of the biggest disappointments of my life on Saturday night. I had a date. Not just any date but a date with one of the most interesting (if not a little crazy) people that’s ever walked God’s good Earth.

Oh yes, I had a date with Britney Spears. The 02, London, Row P seat 103.

The date has been in the diary for months. I picked my outfit weeks ago. My hair was preened, my nails were polished, my skin pampered. This was going to be one hell of a date and I wanted to look my best. Well, it is the princess of pop after all.

You know how sometimes if you’re going on a date, on your friend’s advice you think of a list of conversation topics just in case your date has the social skills of a blade of grass, you know, so that you’re prepared for any eventuality? Well I didn’t even have to do that – I know all the words to every Britney song ever released. So there were to be no awkward silences – I was sure of that.

Maybe you’re thinking that this is nothing to be proud of and perhaps this is the type of information (along with the fact that my Zac Effron postcard takes pride of place on my desk) that in it’s existence and truth lends itself to me dating the type of guys that one would need to prepare a list of conversation topics for. Well anyway, this isn’t about judging me so lets move on.

Basically what I’m trying to convey is that I am a massive closet Britney fan and had been looking forward to her comeback tour with the same excitement as David Cameron looking towards the next general election – sheer elation!

I should have known it would all end in tears. Never ever ever build something up in your head because the pressure just gets too much and it will always turn out badly. I should have learned by now that my expectations of everything – people, places, everything can never be realised by natural events and human beings, ergo, if I build something up in my head, it will always either go horribly wrong or lead to catastrophic disappointment.

I’d read the reviews, I knew full well that Britney would lip-sync most of the performance – but do you know what? I didn’t care one little bit. If I wanted to listen to Britney I’d stick the album on. I was excited to see her dance, to perform, to be passionate – to be the Britney that I wanted to be when I was 16! Instead I was stood up. She wasn’t even there. Well, technically she was physically there. But she may as well not have been for the lacklustre attempt at a show she put on.

For the record: Strutting up and down the stage in a variety of differently coloured sequined pants DOES NOT constitute as dancing.

And do you know what? Maybe Britney should have prepared some conversation topics pre-date because the only words she could muster for the entire show were “Thank you London” before she disappeared below stage.

Gutted. I left the 02 feeling absolutely gutted. A comeback? Come back in a few years when you actually give a crap about performing and haven’t just been made to do your tricks like a good little show pony so daddy can earn a few bucks.

How I feel today

I feel like I could be something brilliant; I'm just not sure how to go about it.