| Tales of Procrastination: Part II "Has the light gone out for you? Because the light's gone for me" |
[Jan. 25th, 2008|10:25 pm] |
This intelligence report has been pieced together from a number of sources over the past days. It concerns our subject who was sighted, not unexpectedly, in the vicinity of Brick Lane, East London. The day in question was Wednesday 16th February. Earlier in the day it had been announced that the band Radiohead would be playing a free, instore concert at Rough Trade Records.
Our subject was spotted arriving at the scene around 1800, seemingly having come direct from his work. Others, about 1500 of them, had a similar desire to see a free concert, overwhelming the organizers. Only approximately 200 of the 1500 were to be admitted. He was seen talking to some in the queue; apparently friends who it would appear made it into the concert.
Realizing he wouldn't make it in, he instead went to dine at one of Brick Lane's restaurants. Towards the end of his meal, at approximately 1930, he took a phone call informing him that the venue had been changed and he joined the throng milling outside 93 Feet East, the new venue. Alas he soon learned that no extra people were to be admitted so he instead did what all British people do in times like this - go to the pub. |
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| Tales of Procrastination: Part I "I'm no hero, now that's understood" |
[Jan. 14th, 2008|09:32 pm] |
In the first of an irregular series on this channel, we look at the reasons why this channel has not had any proper updates for its dedicated viewers for extended periods over the preceding months. There were sporadic efforts to entertain, mostly unsuccessful it should be said.
We have attempted to track down the author of this so-called "blog" but his elusiveness points to the most likely reasons for the lack of output. Firstly, it seems another form of expression has taken over as the primary outlet for his thoughts (the term is used loosely), and more importantly, his time. That reason is the ubiquitous Facebook, known affectionately to those who use it frequently as Crackbook owing to its addictive and pernicious nature. Idle thoughts that would otherwise have found their way onto this channel have instead been diverted off into meaningless and banal "Status Updates". (Sample: "Marcel is enjoying a cup of green tea from his new teapot").
Secondly, as reflected by what can be seen on his Facebook, he seems to have taken to the Londoners' dictum of "everything, all of the time". It's a dictum that reflects the scale of the place and mentality of its inhabitants. They view everything as an occasion and all occasions must be seized. Not to seize an occasion is akin to suicide. This is their natural state of being and it seems the author has taken to it like a duck to water.
In future episodes we will look into exactly what those occasions have been and whether they in fact lived up to expectation. As a part of this investigation we have unearthed a large volume of photographic evidence that will form a part of those future episodes. I hope you will join for next instalment in this vapid, pointless and vain series. |
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| Something else for y'all to read |
[Dec. 19th, 2007|09:41 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Les Savy Fav - Lets Stay Friends | ] |
An interview with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy because I keep going on about him so you might all as well read a bit about him"Was this when he decided to be a musician instead of an actor? 'No,' he says. 'It's when I decided I wanted to be a pirate.' Are you serious? 'Totally.'"
Still voice, distant life -- Sean O'Hagan, The Observer |
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| Social Calendar |
[Oct. 21st, 2007|04:29 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Ease Down The Road - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | ] |
One of my excuses for not having spent time updating this blog since I have been in London has been that I have been busy. I am currently in one of these so-called busy period. Thus this post is a sample of my calendar of late and into the present future.
- Wednesday 17th October - Pub Quiz, cancelled at the last minute. A couple of beers after work. Three hours disappeared very quickly.
- Thursday 18th October - Flat One at Canal Cafe Theatre, Maida Vale. A friend of The Queen stars.
- Friday 19th October - An evening in Hoxton. A little bit of dancing; James Brown was in attendance.
- Saturday 20th October - A spot of football in Hyde Park. A spot of celebrating in Soho in the evening. Even a spot of shopping helping The Queen buy pants. I mean trousers.
- Sunday 21st October - A rest day, apart from the bit at the end which will involve socializing with the RHMB crew near London Bridge.
- Monday 22nd October - Learning how to samba, hopefully.
- Tuesday 23rd October - A proper rest day. Well apart from work.
- Wednesday 24th October - Chelsea vs Schalke04, Champions League.
- Thursday 25 October - A night out at some place called Roxy.
- Friday 26 October - Late night at the V&A.
Not sure what happens next weekend. There'll be something happening. |
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| A scientific theory |
[Oct. 15th, 2007|07:22 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Rubber Soul - The Beatles | ] |
Twice New Zealand has been beaten by France at the World Cup. Both times New Zealand was heavily favoured to win the tournament. Both times France were taken as mere preparation for the next round, where "better" opposition would be waiting. Both times the French had to make a comeback in the second half.
Those two world cups (1999 and 2007), France toured NZ prior to the tournament, played a test match in Wellington (Athletic Park, 1999 and The Stadium, 2007) and lost heavily (by 47 points in 1999 and by 51 points in 2007). I went to both of those test matches - they are the only test matches I have seen in the past 8 years. |
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| I was slicing up an avocado |
[Oct. 13th, 2007|05:06 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Night Falls Over Kortedala - Jens Lekman | ] |
I saw Joanna Newsom almost two years ago playing solo (with her harp, of course). It was at Indigo, Wellington in a packed room of about 500 people and I was less than 10 metres from the stage. This was quite different - a sold-out Royal Albert Hall and she played with a band: a violinist, a percussionist and a banjo/lute player. (They all wore pastels; skivvies and corduroys; the percussionist wore slippers that he took off as he stepped onto the carpet where his kit was set up. These were proper hippies, Mk2007).
As I took my seat I realized, unlike the last time I saw her, I wasn't going to be able to see the strings of her harp or the expression on her face. I was just too far away. Newsom was also struck by the size of the venue: "This is a really big room", she said as she sat behind her harp. Yes, it is.
She started the concert with Emily, whose chorus explains the differences between meteors, meteorites and meteoroids - although it's only sung twice in the song's 12-minute duration, so chorus used loosely. The band brought the music closer to the folk that it is. On the records (particularly with Ys), it comes across as something more avant-garde. It could be incredibly pretentious and pompous. But it isn't: after Emily, she laments the fact she left her phone backstage so now can't take photos of the audience. Bet that wouldn't happen at a Foo Fighters show.
Her voice is less fey than it was (fewer squeaky bits that make her sound like a four year-old girl) but you still half expect a unicorn to be led out by barefooted dwarf carrying a baton with a ribbon on the end at some point to perform a series of magic tricks.
She played all of the songs from Ys and a few from The Milk-Eyed Mender plus one cover and one b-side. The encore was Only Skin from Ys. (It's 16-minutes long, so a one-song encore isn't as mediocre as it sounds). Her songs are so dense and intricate that you expect her to hit at least one bung note or miss a line here or there. And she did; about halfway through Only Skin she forgot a line, looked at her percussionist, asked him what the line was and promptly resumed the song as if nothing was amiss.
It all adds to the very strange mix of extreme ditziness (yes, she's blonde) and precocious talent and imagination. It also makes for a bloody great concert.
( Proper reviews and bits from YouTube ) |
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| Guess what? A list! |
[Oct. 11th, 2007|09:27 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Night Falls Over Kortedala - Jens Lekman | ] |
A customary list of recent music purchases (in chronological order of their addition to iTunes)- The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
- Fur and Gold - Bat For Lashes
- Black Cherry - Goldfrapp
- Arise Therefore - Palace
- Live A Little - Pernice Brothers
- Lost Blues and Other Songs - Palace Music
- Bitter Tea - The Fiery Furnaces
- You Follow Me - Nina Nastasia and Jim White
- Night Falls Over Kortedala - Jens Lekman
These posts, where I list CDs I have recently bought, usually elicit very little feedback, thus to spice up the entry I am creating a contest! It's very simple and doesn't involve you having to text in your entry for an exorbitant sum of money. Simply identify the country the photo below was taken in.
( Click here to enter! ) |
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| Today a thing was burst |
[Oct. 9th, 2007|09:35 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds | ] |
I have had to apologize before for long periods with out updates. I am going to have out do myself in the extent of my apology this time as I haven't written here in almost a month.
I'm really, really, really, really sorry. Really sorry.
I know there are people who read this to find out what I am doing (not usually much of interest) or that I am simply still breathing (Hi Mum! Hi Dad!). So this week I am resolving to post a few things to cover off the past few weeks and post them for you all to read. |
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