Colindale, London, England // 7.38 pm // Mostly cloudy 10ºc / 50ºf
Monday, 23 February 2009
Sunday, 1 February 2009
Our lives are shaped
Colindale, London, England // 11.03 am // Cloudy 2ºc / 36ºf
I've had a great weekend so far, including a couple of fantastic gigs over the last two nights. On Friday night Elle and I went to Kilburn for the Talc gig. Before that though, we went for a drink in a pub just down the road from the venue, called the Brondes Age.
The venue itself was called The Luminaire, above the Kings Head pub. We were on the guestlist so managed to get discounted entry. The place was quite quiet when we arrived, but it soon got really busy and was quite packed by the time the band took the stage around 10.20pm.
Like I said in the last video blog, Talc are very entertaining and they did not disappoint on Friday! Dr Fun and The Gift, ie. Talc, were wearing the trademark suits and bowler hats, and the rest of the band, including Bobby Fame on drums, were wearing "Staff" t-shirts. They played a selection of tracks from both their albums, plus a couple of covers. There was a fair bit of swearing, and a rather surreal moment when Lionel Blair was mentioned in the lyrics of their track "Niteklub", when the band suddenly stopped, and Bobby Fame came to the fore to warn us that Lionel Blair just "appears" when least expected, quite possibly a figment of his own imagination.
As well as being entertaining, they are a really tight band too, especially the horn section which at one point featured the saxophonist playing two horns at once! And I always love to see and hear the vocoder being played live through a Yamaha keyboard, which there was an ample amount of.
All in all, a brilliant gig and a band I'd definitely love to see again. And it appears that, according to Elle, it is the best gig I've ever taken her to, mostly because although she's not a great fan of the music, there was more to it this time which kept her entertained!
We left there shortly after the gig and went home. I was absolutely shattered when I got in, having been awake for almost 24 hours. I almost fell asleep on the couch holding a can of beer which almost sprayed forth on the carpet, so I called it a night.
Felt really really rough yesterday when I woke up. I didn't drink that much on Friday night, but I think whatever I did drink combined with the extreme tiredness really hit me, and I had to go back to bed yesterday afternoon in order to feel better for the evening.
And by the time it got to the Sunburst Band gig last night, I felt totally fine. This gig was at Cargo, which is a club I've always fancied going to. We headed there after some greasy junk food in a local chicken place, and already the place was really busy, even though it was only 9.30pm. The venue is quite small, with an under-the-arches, warehouse-type feel to it. Great crowd though, and a really good atmosphere.
Benji B from BBC Radio 1Xtra was DJing, and some of the stuff he was playing was incredible. Really high quality 70s and 80s soul and jazz funk, most of it completely new to me but all of it fantastic.
By the time The Sunburst Band took the stage, the place was absolutely rammed from wall to wall, which was great to see. And the band tore the roof off the place - their gig at the Jazz Cafe last year was fantastic, but this was something else. I think the atmosphere of the venue helped too. It did take a while for the crowd to get really into it, but by the time the band signed off with the David Bendeth classic "Feel The Real", which was just stunning, I've never seen so many people crammed into such a tight space, dancing and grooving so enthusiastically to a piece of music. Definitely one of the best gigs.
Again, we left shortly afterwards, especially as I realised we could actually catch the last tube back home rather than suffer nightbuses for 1 hour and 10 minutes. And thankfully we did indeed catch the very last tube of the night.
There was one low point to the weekend, and in fact to the past few weeks, and is something I've not yet mentioned. My mum's partner, who has pretty much been a dad to me since I was 3 years old, is battling cancer. It started off as testicular cancer, which is something I've written about in depth before having had a scare of my own in the past, and in the knowledge that I have a higher risk of developing it due to complications when I was younger. John's cancer was missed first time round due to a ridiculous hospital error, which meant by the time he finally underwent surgery to remove the source, it had spread. The outlook is positive and everything looks good for a full recovery, but he started chemotherapy this week and that is never a good experience for anyone. I spoke to my mum for a good while yesterday after she had been to see him, and she was deeply upset at how much he was suffering as a result of the treatment. It's going to be a long road for the both of them, and as always at times like this I really wish I could do more. I'm just glad that my mum, who has had her own serious health issues over the last few years, is there for him. We're hoping John will get home today after the first round of his chemotherapy.
I've had a great weekend so far, including a couple of fantastic gigs over the last two nights. On Friday night Elle and I went to Kilburn for the Talc gig. Before that though, we went for a drink in a pub just down the road from the venue, called the Brondes Age.
The venue itself was called The Luminaire, above the Kings Head pub. We were on the guestlist so managed to get discounted entry. The place was quite quiet when we arrived, but it soon got really busy and was quite packed by the time the band took the stage around 10.20pm.
Like I said in the last video blog, Talc are very entertaining and they did not disappoint on Friday! Dr Fun and The Gift, ie. Talc, were wearing the trademark suits and bowler hats, and the rest of the band, including Bobby Fame on drums, were wearing "Staff" t-shirts. They played a selection of tracks from both their albums, plus a couple of covers. There was a fair bit of swearing, and a rather surreal moment when Lionel Blair was mentioned in the lyrics of their track "Niteklub", when the band suddenly stopped, and Bobby Fame came to the fore to warn us that Lionel Blair just "appears" when least expected, quite possibly a figment of his own imagination.
As well as being entertaining, they are a really tight band too, especially the horn section which at one point featured the saxophonist playing two horns at once! And I always love to see and hear the vocoder being played live through a Yamaha keyboard, which there was an ample amount of.
All in all, a brilliant gig and a band I'd definitely love to see again. And it appears that, according to Elle, it is the best gig I've ever taken her to, mostly because although she's not a great fan of the music, there was more to it this time which kept her entertained!
We left there shortly after the gig and went home. I was absolutely shattered when I got in, having been awake for almost 24 hours. I almost fell asleep on the couch holding a can of beer which almost sprayed forth on the carpet, so I called it a night.
Felt really really rough yesterday when I woke up. I didn't drink that much on Friday night, but I think whatever I did drink combined with the extreme tiredness really hit me, and I had to go back to bed yesterday afternoon in order to feel better for the evening.
And by the time it got to the Sunburst Band gig last night, I felt totally fine. This gig was at Cargo, which is a club I've always fancied going to. We headed there after some greasy junk food in a local chicken place, and already the place was really busy, even though it was only 9.30pm. The venue is quite small, with an under-the-arches, warehouse-type feel to it. Great crowd though, and a really good atmosphere.
Benji B from BBC Radio 1Xtra was DJing, and some of the stuff he was playing was incredible. Really high quality 70s and 80s soul and jazz funk, most of it completely new to me but all of it fantastic.
By the time The Sunburst Band took the stage, the place was absolutely rammed from wall to wall, which was great to see. And the band tore the roof off the place - their gig at the Jazz Cafe last year was fantastic, but this was something else. I think the atmosphere of the venue helped too. It did take a while for the crowd to get really into it, but by the time the band signed off with the David Bendeth classic "Feel The Real", which was just stunning, I've never seen so many people crammed into such a tight space, dancing and grooving so enthusiastically to a piece of music. Definitely one of the best gigs.
Again, we left shortly afterwards, especially as I realised we could actually catch the last tube back home rather than suffer nightbuses for 1 hour and 10 minutes. And thankfully we did indeed catch the very last tube of the night.
There was one low point to the weekend, and in fact to the past few weeks, and is something I've not yet mentioned. My mum's partner, who has pretty much been a dad to me since I was 3 years old, is battling cancer. It started off as testicular cancer, which is something I've written about in depth before having had a scare of my own in the past, and in the knowledge that I have a higher risk of developing it due to complications when I was younger. John's cancer was missed first time round due to a ridiculous hospital error, which meant by the time he finally underwent surgery to remove the source, it had spread. The outlook is positive and everything looks good for a full recovery, but he started chemotherapy this week and that is never a good experience for anyone. I spoke to my mum for a good while yesterday after she had been to see him, and she was deeply upset at how much he was suffering as a result of the treatment. It's going to be a long road for the both of them, and as always at times like this I really wish I could do more. I'm just glad that my mum, who has had her own serious health issues over the last few years, is there for him. We're hoping John will get home today after the first round of his chemotherapy.
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Thursday, 29 January 2009
One happy licence fee payer
Colindale, London, England // 5.08 pm // Mostly clear 4ºc / 39ºf
Last night Celtic played Dundee United in the Scottish League Cup semi-final. I knew about the game in advance and it was due to be screened on BBC One Scotland, which I don't have at home. Usually, therefore, I'd go to the Celtic pub in Kilburn, but it wasn't really an option last night as I was due to be in bed by 10pm, and it takes me a good 45 minutes to get to (and from) that pub. So I resigned myself to the fact that I'd just have to listen to it on the radio.
A few minutes before kick-off I had a sudden thought. On Freeview, which is the service that I get my TV from, the BBC has a service called BBC Red Button which is effectively a few video streams "hidden" behind the red button on BBC TV services. I thought I would check it out, just for the very small possibility that those lovely people at the BBC decided to let us ex-pats in England watch the game too. I went to Channel 301, which is one of the streams, and was presented with the most beautiful of sights:
"Coming Next: CIS Insurance Cup Semi Final, Celtic v Dundee United". How happy I was!! I actually couldn't believe it.
So I got to watch the game, although it did disappear a couple of times during extra time and penalties as the game moved from BBC One Scotland to BBC Two Scotland and back again, meaning whoever was in charge of playout at BBC Red Button had to try and keep up! It was one of the best cup ties I've seen for years, really intense towards the end of normal time and throughout extra time. And the penalty shootout was something else! It lasted for ages, over 20 penalties, including goalkeeper vs goalkeeper twice! Thankfully, we won in the end but it meant going to bed a good 45 minutes later than initially planned!
On the way back from work tonight I saw two kids playing kerby in the street. For those that don't know, kerby is when you stand at the opposite sides of a road, and you take turns at trying to bounce a football off of the opposite kerb. Every time you get it, you then stand halfway in the middle of the road and keep doing it until you miss. Every time you hit the kerb, you get a point. So simple but soo much fun. I used to love playing it when I was a kid, and was almost tempted to join in, but quickly decided against it before I was reported as being a "strange man" (!)
So, one of the main things I was looking forward to when I moved to London was going to more gigs, and being able to stay later, not having to rush for the last train back to Reading. Since moving here 6 months ago I have been to this many gigs: 0.
But that will change this weekend, as I'm going (for the first time) to see Talc perform live tomorrow night in Kilburn, followed by Joey Negro and The Sunburst Band at Cargo on Saturday night. I might also be seeing Tremain, a band involving my friend Lee (ex-Kaldera) at indigO2 in a couple of weeks. And then I'm hoping to see Incognito perform at the Camden Centre sometime in, I think, April.
Last night Celtic played Dundee United in the Scottish League Cup semi-final. I knew about the game in advance and it was due to be screened on BBC One Scotland, which I don't have at home. Usually, therefore, I'd go to the Celtic pub in Kilburn, but it wasn't really an option last night as I was due to be in bed by 10pm, and it takes me a good 45 minutes to get to (and from) that pub. So I resigned myself to the fact that I'd just have to listen to it on the radio.
A few minutes before kick-off I had a sudden thought. On Freeview, which is the service that I get my TV from, the BBC has a service called BBC Red Button which is effectively a few video streams "hidden" behind the red button on BBC TV services. I thought I would check it out, just for the very small possibility that those lovely people at the BBC decided to let us ex-pats in England watch the game too. I went to Channel 301, which is one of the streams, and was presented with the most beautiful of sights:
"Coming Next: CIS Insurance Cup Semi Final, Celtic v Dundee United". How happy I was!! I actually couldn't believe it.
So I got to watch the game, although it did disappear a couple of times during extra time and penalties as the game moved from BBC One Scotland to BBC Two Scotland and back again, meaning whoever was in charge of playout at BBC Red Button had to try and keep up! It was one of the best cup ties I've seen for years, really intense towards the end of normal time and throughout extra time. And the penalty shootout was something else! It lasted for ages, over 20 penalties, including goalkeeper vs goalkeeper twice! Thankfully, we won in the end but it meant going to bed a good 45 minutes later than initially planned!
On the way back from work tonight I saw two kids playing kerby in the street. For those that don't know, kerby is when you stand at the opposite sides of a road, and you take turns at trying to bounce a football off of the opposite kerb. Every time you get it, you then stand halfway in the middle of the road and keep doing it until you miss. Every time you hit the kerb, you get a point. So simple but soo much fun. I used to love playing it when I was a kid, and was almost tempted to join in, but quickly decided against it before I was reported as being a "strange man" (!)
So, one of the main things I was looking forward to when I moved to London was going to more gigs, and being able to stay later, not having to rush for the last train back to Reading. Since moving here 6 months ago I have been to this many gigs: 0.
But that will change this weekend, as I'm going (for the first time) to see Talc perform live tomorrow night in Kilburn, followed by Joey Negro and The Sunburst Band at Cargo on Saturday night. I might also be seeing Tremain, a band involving my friend Lee (ex-Kaldera) at indigO2 in a couple of weeks. And then I'm hoping to see Incognito perform at the Camden Centre sometime in, I think, April.
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Too Hot To Handle?
Colindale, London, England // 4.55 pm // Mostly cloudy 7ºc / 45ºf
It's once again getting to the point where every weekend in the foreseeable future is completely jam packed with stuff to do. From now up to at least mid-March, every weekend that Elle and I have is spoken for, mostly meeting up with people and doing social stuff. Not a complaint at all, but I do hope I get to do a bit of resting and recouperation every now and then too.
It all started this past weekend around 3pm on Friday afternoon when I finished work and headed across the road to the pub to meet up with my friend Shuv and his other half, an hour after I gave them a tour around my place of work. We had a good few drinks there on Carnaby Street before I headed up to Chalk Farm to meet up with Stu and Jenn for a few more, by which time Elle arrived back from work and we went for a meal in Camden. It was still early by the time we got back to the flat, but I'd already been out for 7 hours and it was time to call it a night!
The following morning, for the second time, I put on my £1 accumulator bet on the outcome of 4 SPL matches (not including the Celtic or Rangers games). I was listening to Radio Scotland's coverage of the games while getting ready to leave for Dan and Hannah's wedding reception later that evening in Warwickshire. Just before we left, the three of those games being played on Saturday were all the complete opposite of the results I had bet on, and with only 10 minutes to go I decided I had lost.
On the way to the wedding we picked up my friend Pete at Leamington Spa train station. The venue for the wedding reception itself was absolutely in the middle of nowhere. Elle + (B roads x sudden dips in the road x complete darkness) = much praying. That's all I'll say.
But we got there in one piece, and it was good to see quite a few people from uni that I hadn't seen for ages. And for Elle it had been even longer. We were at the wedding from around 8pm till 1am before driving back.
Pete came back to London with us as there was no way for him to get back to Oxford at that time of night. I had to wake up early to regulate my sleeping, and as Pete was asleep in the living room I sat in bed reading my emails in bed. I thought I'd just check on the final scores from the previous day's SPL games, and was absolutely astonished to find that those three games I had bet on had completely turned around in the last 10 minutes, and all of a sudden I had three out of three results correct! It all rested on the one final game later on Sunday afternoon, and I had bet on an against-the-odds result.
Stu came round in the afternoon and we watched the Arsenal game on Setanta. This was after I had finished compiling the radio magazine for the weekend. During the latter part of that game I was keeping an eye on the Kilmarnock v Hamilton score. I had Hamilton down to win, which wasn't likely. Part way into the 2nd half, Hamilton scored! And it was a tense wait till the final whistle, but the game ended 1-0 to Hamilton! Logging into the Ladbrokes website confirmed my success - my return for a £1 bet? £39.30!!
On Sunday night Elle and I went to our local Wetherspoon's on Edgware Road to have, of course, the annual Burns' Supper! The haggis was probably the best I've had for years, although the whole thing lacked a bit of gravy. Nonetheless, the meal was great and fantastic value for money complete with a pint of lager.
My day off this week was Tuesday. In the morning, our handyman finally came round to fit a new extractor fan in the bathroom. However, as he predicted, it has made no difference - there is still far too much moisture from the shower but it looks like it is simply something we need to deal with.
Later on Tuesday I went to Asda to pick up all the ingredients for the latest meal that I was cooking - lamb phall, the hottest kind of curry money can buy/make.
And my god was it hot! Still, it's nothing new to me and I finished it all, as did Elle. It was really really good - another success :-) Next time I'm cooking will be two weeks time, in fact it'll be around my birthday/Valentines Day. But from yesterday I now have a big tub of ghee that I need to use up in 4 weeks, so I'll need to pick my recipes around that.
Recently Walkers Crisps have brought out certain flavours of crisps that members of the public have designed. I think there are 5 in all, and they are limited edition. The idea is that you try all 5, and then vote for your favourite on their website. In the end, the most popular flavour will be retained as a long-term Walkers flavour. So far I've tried "Fish and Chips" and "Builders Breakfast". "Fish and Chips" was ok. It's always a bit odd having a potato snack tasting like fish. I couldn't distinguish the "chips" very well, but I could taste what I assume is supposed to be vinegar. "Builders Breakfast" was ok, but the overall distinctive taste was fried egg, with a slight hint of beans. The only place I've seen these so far is the shop inside Colindale tube station. I think they only other one they stock is "Onion Bahji"...so it might be tricky to track down the "Cajun Squirrel" and "Chilli and Chocolate" varieties!
It's once again getting to the point where every weekend in the foreseeable future is completely jam packed with stuff to do. From now up to at least mid-March, every weekend that Elle and I have is spoken for, mostly meeting up with people and doing social stuff. Not a complaint at all, but I do hope I get to do a bit of resting and recouperation every now and then too.
It all started this past weekend around 3pm on Friday afternoon when I finished work and headed across the road to the pub to meet up with my friend Shuv and his other half, an hour after I gave them a tour around my place of work. We had a good few drinks there on Carnaby Street before I headed up to Chalk Farm to meet up with Stu and Jenn for a few more, by which time Elle arrived back from work and we went for a meal in Camden. It was still early by the time we got back to the flat, but I'd already been out for 7 hours and it was time to call it a night!
The following morning, for the second time, I put on my £1 accumulator bet on the outcome of 4 SPL matches (not including the Celtic or Rangers games). I was listening to Radio Scotland's coverage of the games while getting ready to leave for Dan and Hannah's wedding reception later that evening in Warwickshire. Just before we left, the three of those games being played on Saturday were all the complete opposite of the results I had bet on, and with only 10 minutes to go I decided I had lost.
On the way to the wedding we picked up my friend Pete at Leamington Spa train station. The venue for the wedding reception itself was absolutely in the middle of nowhere. Elle + (B roads x sudden dips in the road x complete darkness) = much praying. That's all I'll say.
But we got there in one piece, and it was good to see quite a few people from uni that I hadn't seen for ages. And for Elle it had been even longer. We were at the wedding from around 8pm till 1am before driving back.
Pete came back to London with us as there was no way for him to get back to Oxford at that time of night. I had to wake up early to regulate my sleeping, and as Pete was asleep in the living room I sat in bed reading my emails in bed. I thought I'd just check on the final scores from the previous day's SPL games, and was absolutely astonished to find that those three games I had bet on had completely turned around in the last 10 minutes, and all of a sudden I had three out of three results correct! It all rested on the one final game later on Sunday afternoon, and I had bet on an against-the-odds result.
Stu came round in the afternoon and we watched the Arsenal game on Setanta. This was after I had finished compiling the radio magazine for the weekend. During the latter part of that game I was keeping an eye on the Kilmarnock v Hamilton score. I had Hamilton down to win, which wasn't likely. Part way into the 2nd half, Hamilton scored! And it was a tense wait till the final whistle, but the game ended 1-0 to Hamilton! Logging into the Ladbrokes website confirmed my success - my return for a £1 bet? £39.30!!
On Sunday night Elle and I went to our local Wetherspoon's on Edgware Road to have, of course, the annual Burns' Supper! The haggis was probably the best I've had for years, although the whole thing lacked a bit of gravy. Nonetheless, the meal was great and fantastic value for money complete with a pint of lager.
My day off this week was Tuesday. In the morning, our handyman finally came round to fit a new extractor fan in the bathroom. However, as he predicted, it has made no difference - there is still far too much moisture from the shower but it looks like it is simply something we need to deal with.
Later on Tuesday I went to Asda to pick up all the ingredients for the latest meal that I was cooking - lamb phall, the hottest kind of curry money can buy/make.
And my god was it hot! Still, it's nothing new to me and I finished it all, as did Elle. It was really really good - another success :-) Next time I'm cooking will be two weeks time, in fact it'll be around my birthday/Valentines Day. But from yesterday I now have a big tub of ghee that I need to use up in 4 weeks, so I'll need to pick my recipes around that.
Recently Walkers Crisps have brought out certain flavours of crisps that members of the public have designed. I think there are 5 in all, and they are limited edition. The idea is that you try all 5, and then vote for your favourite on their website. In the end, the most popular flavour will be retained as a long-term Walkers flavour. So far I've tried "Fish and Chips" and "Builders Breakfast". "Fish and Chips" was ok. It's always a bit odd having a potato snack tasting like fish. I couldn't distinguish the "chips" very well, but I could taste what I assume is supposed to be vinegar. "Builders Breakfast" was ok, but the overall distinctive taste was fried egg, with a slight hint of beans. The only place I've seen these so far is the shop inside Colindale tube station. I think they only other one they stock is "Onion Bahji"...so it might be tricky to track down the "Cajun Squirrel" and "Chilli and Chocolate" varieties!
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Early bird
Colindale, London, England // 11.14 am // Partly cloudy 6ºc / 43ºf
It's quarter past 11 on a Sunday morning, I've been awake for an hour and I'm pretty much fully awake. I don't know why, given that I had a very late night last night. I think I'll pin the blame on getting up at 4am midweek for early shifts. Still, this morning was originally my last lie-in until next Saturday. I know I'll regret this later tonight/tomorrow morning.
Had a good long weekend so far, just over halfway through it. On Friday I did a good bit of catching up with things, and had one of my more productive days of late. I finally sent off to the estate agents the big wad of mail that had been sent for the previous tenants, plus a few other bits and pieces. The handyman from the estate agents was supposed to arrive in the morning to replace the extractor fan in the bedroom. However, there was absolutely no sign of him, and he wouldn't answer his phone. I really need to chase that up.
Eventually I headed to Asda to pick up ingredients for the meal I cooked on Friday night, which was chop suey. It turned out really good, with a whole lot of vegetables too which can't be bad at all. I really do enjoy cooking and it's turning into one of the highlights of the week. Next meal is tomorrow night.
On Friday I started using a new piece of software for chat and social networking. It's called Digsby and it integrates IM programs like MSN Messenger, Gmail Chat, Facebook Chat etc, social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter and email services like Gmail and Windows Live Mail, all in one application. It's a really nice piece of kit and is highly recommended.
Yesterday I did get a bit of a lie in, more because I went to bed fairly early rather than waking up early. I listened to the build-up to Saturday's SPL games on the radio and decided to place a bet on one of the games. So I put £1 on Hearts to beat Kilmarnock, which they did, earning me around £2.60. I think I might end up putting £1 on each weekend's fixtures, but on multiple games, to increase the chance of winning more. I'm only betting on non-Celtic or Rangers matches, which is actually quite good as it gets me more interested in the rest of the Scottish league.
Eventually Elle and I headed out last night and after going for dinner in a chippy we went to a comedy night in a pub in Belsize Park. We saw 5 acts, and they were all really good. I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of them go quite far.
Even just in the time it's taken me to write this I'm starting to feel bloody tired! I can't really go back to bed now, it's against my unwritten rules! Today I'll be watching the Celtic v Aberdeen game hoping we can go 5 points clear at the top of the SPL.
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