Jeremy’s party on Saturday night was immense. I’ve only just recovered from the mother of all hangovers… I don’t want to talk about it. Suffice to say, it was worth it!
Glad that Christmas is coming. It’s a lovely time of year, really. Feel quite Christmassy now… That’s all I have to say, really. It wouldn’t hurt to leave a comment every now and again, would it? :p
I went to see a Velvet Underground tribute band tonight, called, rather imaginatively, the Underground Velvets. James’s friend Sam from university is their John Cale-esque keyboard player and so we trekked along to Camden’s The Dublin Castle to see the art rockers represented by some skinny kids who weren’t even born when Andy Warhol’s wet dream came true.
What struck me most about the band was the sheer naïve fervour of the lead singer. I thought they did well not to attempt any costumes or looky-likey bollocks, but this was at the expense of that knowing, ironic distance perfected by better tribute bands. I quote from the band’s official website:
What do WE promise? No tacky outfits, no ridiculous makeup; no
Warhol lookalike pretending to paint soupcans in the corner of the
stage. Tribute acts can go to Church as far as I’m concerned. We cover
the greatest songs written in the history of modern music. When Andre
Previn or Yehudi Menuin conduct a philharmonic orchestra to deliver the
works of the great masters like Beethoven and Bach, no-one calls them a
tribute band. In the same way, I conduct my incredibly talented Velvet
Orchestra.
Ha ha! Seriously!
Went to Morrisons today for some bread and happened upon their drinks section. What a fantastic choice of ales hitherto unbeknownst to me! And what’s more, they have a four for £5 deal. Naturally I didn’t waste any time availing myself of a small selection of these fine Northern beverages.
So far I’ve sampled a bottle of Jennings‘ Cocker Hoop (4.6% ABV). This is a delicious golden ale from the Cumbrian brewers, apparently incorporating Styrian Golding hops. Does that mean hops from Styria in Austria or does it merely refer to the type of hop? Either way it’s a beauty. I’ll definitely be purchasing more of this frothy monster.
Ward’s Best Bitter (4% ABV) is a beer with an interesting past. Well, I found it interesting, at least. A popular Yorshire bitter from the 1840s until 1999, when the brewery was shut down by its owners, The Swallow Group PLC, it was recently taken over by the Double Maxim Beer Company Ltd with two well-intentioned chaps called Doug Trotman and Mark Anderson at the helm. As far as I can tell, it’s distributed by the Jennings Brewery (see above). But enough of that - it’s a fine, fine ale. One of the best bottled ales I’ve ever tasted, in fact. It achieves pretty damn close to the perfect balance: not too strong, not too weak and with a delicious aftertaste, especially when compared with the faintly chemical tang of some bottled ales. Full marks to this one, then.
Crivens…
I’ve been offered a job! After two interviews with a London-based
media company, I got a phonecall on Tuesday informing me that they were
offering me the position and that they wanted me to start on January
9th. I was then called again yesterday with more details about the
pay. Apparently, they operate a three-month initial (relatively
handsome) expenses only assessment period, and then I’ll be up for
review and - all being well - bumped up to the £17k starting salary
with frequent reviews.
I have mixed feelings about this. Overwhelmingly, I’m very pleased to
have been asked and the nature of the work sounds varied and engaging,
but I’m still not totally convinced by the pay. I think the best thing
is to accept the offer and see how it goes. I can still do my
freelance journalism on the side (it’s hardly onerous to review CDs),
and thereby keep my options open. The only casualty might be the
tutoring, but it’s hard to tell whether that’s going anywhere at the
moment. Do feel free to comment - it’s worth creating a Friendster
profile for that purpose alone!
Right, shock over! I once again point you to George’s Blog. It makes for a very interesting read.
Ow, my carapace (and liver, head etc…)!
What a weekend… we spent most of the time drunk, this is true, but whether we were boxered or not, the banter was of a sterling quality, and consistently so throughout the stay. It all started on the train up with a few beers, then a few more in the bar at York station, then another on the train to Scarborough, and many more at Nay’s. This really set the tone for the weekend…
Some highlights:
Check out the photo album for more fun. I’m so tired…
Much to Luke’s dismay, we’re heading off to Scarborough this weekend. The original gang was going to be myself, Haz, Jez, Rich, Emma and Mikey, but the female of the species is weak and has abandoned us in favour of moving into her snazzy new "flat" in "Brick" Lane with her "flatmates".
This is not a problem, of course, and the only logical consequence is that we shall have MORE fun and play Super Top Trumps Olave’s ™ on the train on the way up. If I can find them, that is…
News of our exciting trip to celebrate Naomi’s birthday (belatedly) will follow after the weekend.
Before I begin… Happy Birthday to Deborah for Sunday! This picture is of her, and yes, I did alter it.
Well, things have been a bit topsy turvy of late. I’ve not updated my blog recently - not because of a lack of time or things to say, but rather an inability to find the words to say them in all the time I have. Yet I’ll hammer it out.
The biggest news concerns George. He was diagnosed with Leukaemia a few weeks ago. You’d be best reading his (suddenly rather useful) blog at this address for more information than I could provide. Apart from making time to see the poor old invalid every week, I’ve been trying to let people know on his behalf as tactfully as I can. When you haven’t seen or spoken to these people for so long it seems a daunting task. There are still some I suspect don’t know about it. I’ll come to them in time.
When I see how strong George is being about his new situation it really inspires me. A lot of his cards - he had loads last time I visited - mention that their authors are praying for him. I would never do that, and I know that George, who knows me very well, would never expect me to, but I feel glad that he draws comfort from the knowledge that others will. I obviously can’t predict how I would react if I were the one in George’s position, but I like to think that people would know me well enough not to pray for me. But then again, if prayer were to comfort my friends and relatives, who would I be to ask them not to do it? Maybe I should be praying for George…
But that would be ridiculous. I firmly believe (and nothing has changed) that no one would be listening to me if I were attempt to commune with a higher power. I intend to show my support through action and deed, like the true (lapsed) humanist that I am. I think George is glad of this.
On a lighter note, I’m now upstairs in the swish new room, which is basically finished. Alison’s lingering around taking up my space (only kidding!) until she finds a flat. She located some randoms on a website and is now flathunting with them… how exciting! Hope she lives somewhere street and boho like Hoxton or Shoreditch. That would be TIGHT.
What am I up to? Well, I’m now a paid-up freelance journalist (any offers welcome, publications!) and I’ve had five reviews in’t NME, plus I’m doing a leetle bit of private tuition to keep the wolf from the ol’ hatch. Not the easiest industry to break into, but where there’s a will… Right, best do something useful now, like wander aimlessly around my room.
Crivens, I’m finally set up in the new upstairs room! It really is cosmic up here. I’ve rigged up the PC to my stereo speakers so they’re acting as the rear section of my surround sound rig. I’ve also now got wireless broadband… oh the joy. Given that there’s an en suite cludgie, I really see no reason why I should ever leave this room… ever.
The only problems are as follows:
But, these really aren’t that significant. Jeez, how good is that Arctic Monkeys single? Number one in the national charts! Blimey… proof that we’re on our way back up.
I have decided to support a cause:
It seems like a fairly innocuous cause to become allied to, but it might do something to anger the selfish, vulgar, lazy cows with blonde highlights and sunglasses who have nothing better to do every day than cruise around to have lunch with their equally vacuous friends and pick their rotten little brats up from school and hog the road. So it’s good.
Have been to IKEA for the new room and, I’m proud to say, have now erected my first ever item of flat pack furniture. It is an Aspelund bedside table and it looks surprisingly like this: 
I was never the best at woodwork at school. Mr Hall once had to take a break from his Christian rock to help me plane my disastrously mangled mirror frame and I still managed to ruin the fucker. However, my recent effort at assembly has pleased me.
IKEA is an awesome place. Not awesome, necessarily, in the parlance of our times, but it inspires awe in me. Dad and I had to lug some seriously hefty furniture around and we had problems getting it into the boot, but by bending the mattress we solved that little teaser. It may have broken it, but tha’s ok!
The best part of the day was getting a 75p hotdog (yes, 75p). It was YUMMY SCRUMMY! The mustard was just like Mautner’s Kremser Senf in Vienna. Mmmmm.
