A happy-go-lucky English rambler dude goes to New Zealand for a year. Here he interfaces with some of those he left behind and details his nefarious activities. Or summat.
Recently clicked on MP3s - 7th June 2005 The Lucksmiths - Warmer Corners
Jens Lekman - When i said i wanted to be your dog
The Trashcan Sinatras - Weightlifting
Teenage Fanclub - Man Made
Laura Veirs - Carbon Glacier
The Decemberists - Picaresque
The Eels - Blinking Lights
Saturday, December 07, 2002
coo ee. I'm still here.
I suppose the lack of posts is mainly down to my own inherent laziness, but my other excuse is that life is still pretty hard work for me at the moment. As i said before it's not the sort of stuff that i'd want to plaster all over the internet, and while it's all still going on, it's kind of hard to come up with amusing anecdotes about all the fun i'm having at work, how great the weather is and the joy of giving yourself sleep depravation whilst watching the English Cricket team vying to bring the ashes back home. er, woo.
The other main focus in my life disappeared today... I discovered that my application for the London marathon has been rejected. Somewhere not very deep down inside me, i'm probably quite relieved i don't have to cane myself all through X-mass and the new year to get super fit, but the idea of managing to do something as badass as a marathon was quite exciting, and i'm pretty chuffed with how motivated i've been with my training so far. My standard training run is up to 6 miles, and despite not having any daylight to go running in, i do look forward to my runs, especially after being stuck in a pokey little office, pissing around with computers all day.
So as not to 'waste' all the training i've done so far (SHIT! I could have been scoffing pies and watching telly for the last 3 months), i'll probably apply to do another marathon, or maybe a wussy half-marathon. But the London marathon really is the daddy of them all, and i reckon i might struggle to get as motivated for the Stoke marathon (One of the alternatives. Oooh.).
Hmmm i'll stop moaning now, as it isn't doing me, and definitely not you, any good. Good stuff that's been going on in the last few weeks includes.....
Several smart gigs. This week Badly Drawn Boy at Rock city - Great songs, and a top show, in which BDB pinched an audience member's mobile phone, had a brief chat with his mate, then used it to phone his dad, and dedicate the next song to him. Aww. He also found time to do a bit of Englebert style serenading of a female audience member. As a finale to the evening, i got to have a ride in Andy's bitching old-skool beetle! I should have been getting a lift home with Pablo, Boney and Alessia, but when Pablo's car broke down, i helped with one (failed) push start, and then shamefully sped off into the night, leaving them waiting for the breakdown man to come. (They insisted it was OK. OK?)
Also went to see the 'Anti-folk' label tour a couple of weeks ago, at Lestar's latest live venue, 'Sumo'. Very good it was too, in a super lo-fi way - the girl drumming for 'Prewar Yardsale' played a bucket for god's sake (Weird). Sounds daft, but it all somehow worked out real good. Especially Kimya from the Moldy peaches' almost painfully intimate set and Jeffrey Lewis' songs / flipchart finale (Think a kind of homedrawn music video). Worthy mentions to Prewar yardsale, Major Matt Mason USA & Doofus too.
Prewar Yardsale and their buckets
The gig i went to last Sunday was possibly the nicest surprise however. Alison Moyet. er, yes that Alison Moyet, the 80's throwback. (Oddly looking a lot better now than she did in the 80's. Although come to think of it, that's true for most people. Except perhaps Rob Martin. (;op) And Michael Jackson. And Princess Diana. Er, I digress...). Not a gig i would have chosen to go to myself, but a mate from NZ i wanted to catch up with had a spare ticket, so i thought why not, and i'm glad i did. I can honestly say i've never heard a more impressive voice live, she could really let rip, and 'fill' the venue without going all OTT and warbly like some kind of Mariah Carey cack. The venue, the Old Vic theatre, in London village was pretty special too, very ornate and with a scarily large chandelier in the middle of the ceiling.
Other assorted good things in life: Meeting up with travelling mates (Hiya! To Kim, Ursula & Susie), and being able to yack on about NZ people and places etc, without having the eyes of the person your talking to glaze over!
Going to watch the mighty city, and knowing there's a good chance we're going to score a few, and quite possibly, win. (For as long as the cash holds out anyways)
Having a bitching bicycle (Deore components all round, red Mavic rims and er, double butted spokes!). And more importantly a super flash, official Maillot Jaune to wear whilst riding it.
Having broadband web access, and being able download ridiculous numbers of Jackass videos, MP3s and listen to some quality radio stations - Melbourne's Triple R in particlular (Completely playlist & commercial cack free. If the Guardian was Australian, and a radio station, it would be Triple R. Knowwaddamean? Sadly i still have to listen to Radio 1 all day at work. If it wasn't for Mark & Lard, i would have gone beserk weeks ago, run off on a blood crazy rampage, and not returned until i managed to track down DJ Sami and murder him, and the stupid bint that sings on his latest single by forcing them to drink melted down copies of their latest cd single. Harsh? I think not)
Finally, getting a bit of sleep. It's important for us athelete types you know. Not to mention us lazy arse types too. Nighty night...
3:53 am
