| oh, hello.
my internet skills are poor. mancunians, you may know - what times is this n that open? and is it open on sundays? i will be passing through your town briefly on friday afternoon and then sunday afternoon for a bit longer and would quite like to go.
as some sort of payment you (and anyone else, for that matter) can enjoy this.
http://www.neave.com/strobe | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment   |
| | of little import to anyone really, but i've discovered a way to look at this at work. still can't read friends entries though, which makes it a bit pointless really. hm. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| hello curious world of livejournal,
so it turns out i can't access livejournal at work now - which never
used to be the case - as a result of some 'exciting' new monitoring
software on all the computers. or something. i have no idea.
subsequently, my use of this has dropped to almost nothing. oh well.
holiday is effectively 7 days away. this is a good thing.
yesterday i learnt that ducklings sleep huddled together in a pile (at
least on this occasion). in other exciting walk-to-work news, i saw a
tern fly out of the canal, which surprised me somewhat, 'cos i thought
someone'd thrown something in! let me re-iterate that: one of those
birds (with the feathers and the flying) flew (like they do in the sky)
out of the canal (which is wet and not so good for flying. also on the
ground). well, i was excited anyway.
this weekend i will be having seitan adventures with vital wheat gluten
(courtesy of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) avocado,as a result of visiting her on a boat.
i also returned loaded down with some "sting coated minamim wafers"
(kind of like blue ribands if you remember them? or tunnocks caramel
wafers, but without the caramel bit. and dairy-free, obviously), more
elderflower cordial and a bunch of copies of her new zine. a good time.)
the previously mentioned nacht und nebel split with over is ready (not
strictly true, but i start copying them tonight, so it might as well be)
and the split with timothy c holehouse too (i suspect i've mentioned the
latter being ready before though) - a selection of tapes will be coming
your way shortly, soleilmoonfry
further, dead in the woods are playing with taint and clutch in
nottingham (august 16th), with gewapend beton, loser life and someone
else in leeds (july 25th) and in manchester with possibly gruel and
someone else? (july 26th)
i think perhaps i have some sort of problem involving over-use of
parentheses?
good day. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| i've spent a good chunk of my morning so far looking at old photos i've taken online. partly because i'm probably going to throw away all the hard copies - my hoarding instinct is making it pretty difficult to actually bring myself to do it - but i've not looked at practically all of them AT LEAST since i've moved back to nottingham almost two years ago and a good while before then as well, so it just seems silly keeping them.
i've got too much stuff basically. (and i only ever got round to putting a tiny fraction of them all online anyway..)
so anyway. ( here are a few nice things to look at ) | | comments: 11 comments or Leave a comment |
| in a (disappointingly many) few weeks, i have an actual holiday with alice! we get to go here, here, here, here and here.*
so we get to see the chimp i adopted a while ago, look at crazy gardens (i think i might actually be turning into my parents), and, amongst other things, make a most-likely financially ruinous return to a town made almost entirely out of second hand books. also, some camping, hire car action (because it worked out way cheaper than getting the train, which is just stupid) and all the other kinds of fun that there are.
i think this will be the first holiday in a LONG time that hasn't either been a tour, or going to a festival or something. crazy.
new nacht und nebel stuff is done and in various states of readiness:
split c90 with timothy c holehouse - ready. £3 plus postage.
split cdr with de selby - covers are being made even as i type
split c30 with over - not ready
100% cocoa chocolate, the discovery of tinned roast aubergine, blueberry and raspberry ice cream, blackberry cake, and a selection of fine chilli sauces have made my stomach (which rules me like a cruel stepmother) happy of late. good times.
* EDIT - also, here | | comments: 6 comments or Leave a comment |
| a weekend with alice involving no second hand bookshops at all - instead, conic hill/loch lomond, the botanical gardens in edinburgh, enchiladas, a massive burger, sam smiths raspberry beer, that dairy free white chocolate, some sitting in the park drinking cider in the near-dark, and not much sleep. also a horrible aeroplane home delayed by 3 hours or so. urgh.
( fresh air ) | | comments: 15 comments or Leave a comment |
| kitchen adventures when helen and dave came round for tea last night: toad in the hole, mash, carrots in beer and onion gravy, steamed cabbage with balsamic vinegar. chocolate brownies and banana ice cream for pudding. then some feeling over-full.
the banana ice cream was wierd - just (pre-frozen) bananas, cream, oil and vanilla blended together. nice, but it hadn't had time to re-freeze properly. easier to make than the silken tofu ones though, 'cos there's none of that freeze/stir/freeze/stir nonsense going on.
last weekend when it was disgustingly hot (relative to the previous few days, anyway. regardless, hopefully i'll get used to heat again sometime pretty soon..) other than a couple of brief trips into town (once for food, and once to go see doomsday. and the less said about the latter the better, really) i spent the whole time hiding in my room listening to records and reading. fuck sunshine and being sociable. i made a banana and cherry cake as well, but instead of the recipe i've used for years, i used the one from another dinner is possible - turned out really well. i might have a new 'blank' cake recipe, i think.
um, what else. grinding halt were grand here whenever that was. chameleon is HOT - i'm not sure i'm looking forward to any gigs there when the weather gets properly hot.. the toilet door there still hasn't been painted over, so it looks like we might have to find out who actually did it and get them to get it sorted out. idiots.
i seem to have forgotten how to sleep again. i find this situation to be objectionable.
also, not that most of you will care, there are a bunch of nacht und nebel things coming out real soon (in probable order of readiness):
split cdr w/ de selby (~15 minutes each)
split tape with timothy c holehouse (~45 minutes each)
split tape with over (~15 minutes each)
busy busy busy... | | comments: Leave a comment |
| driving back from newport to nottingham on the back of two nights of no more than four hours sleep is like some sort of nightmare (actually, it wasn't THAT bad. i blame resorting to energy drink to keep me alive. that, and listening to poison idea.)
similarly, getting back home at about 4.30, then up at 8.30 to take the van back, then home to find some nice new roadworks being done outside my house - not the best. | | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
| - life is cheap review from give me back #3: 'this has great american steak religion written all over it. like uranus or one eyed god prophecy. like the screamier parts of orchid's chaos is me with more of a focus on being epic and metal. the lyrics are what really grabbed me. i haven't heard metal with politial lyrics like these since the days of suicide nation and creation is crucifixion. they have that slightly academic feel to them, written by someone with a passion for history. slip this to metalheads as a gateway to critical thinking. recommended.'
and yeah, i know getting a good review means as much as getting a bad one (ie absolutely nothing) but it's still nice.
- the eye test i have to have for work involves getting the work minibus back to county hall from ruddington and back. and because of the new times it runs, a roughly half-hour eye test involves me leaving work at 12 and not being back until 3.30. so i get paid for 2 1/2 hours of reading. amazing. hopefully the weather'll be nice so i can sit by the river, otherwise i'll have to sit in county halls's reception area, i suppose..
- damson and ginger crumble.
- plans for (more) torte, watching godzilla vs space godzilla (finally! i've owned a copy for about 2 years and i've STILL not managed to watch it) and various other pursuits this coming weekend. also possibly introducing alice to the heady delights of battlestar galactica.
- curmudgeon last weekend
- integrity in london last friday (missing guitarist and a mistake-riddled (well, ok, riddled is unfair, a couple, i guess) version of micah aside..) haha, if only for "this song's called vocal test. sing along, you all know the words.."
- the endless blockade - primitive lp | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| in the last week or so i have:
recorded a whole bunch of nacht und nebel stuff for various splits (with messrs holehouse, frater and grimes) - not quite enough done for all three yet..
won a whole bunch of crappy almost-blisters (and a whole load of aching) playing drums
had a whole gang of people stay over (end the agony, mongolia and mob rules on saturday, end the agony and mongolia on tuesday)
seen end the agony, mongolia, mob rules, cold snap, black cobra, saviours and the sword live. a couple great. most good. one not good. one slayer cover (can't remember what song, off show no mercy though).
made a whole gang of cake (chocolate and banana (twice); chocolate, walnut and cherry; ginger)
got the zanussi/looking for an answer 7" (didn't even realise zanussi were still going! good times)
ordered some new shoes made from car tyres and hemp because i'm a terrible hippy
ordered one of the very few records i'm buying this month (willpower!)
met up with andy in the afternoon for 'a couple of pints' with worryingly predictable results
read the tin drum by günter grass - which is amazing - but nothign else because i haven't had any time for some reason
next week:
dead in the woods are recording
more nacht und nebel stuff (with added distortion now i've got my pedal back)
sleep (hopefully) | | comments: 8 comments or Leave a comment |
| 'intelligence' from some crappy spam email (that had a virus with it that got deleted)
'Seemed unable to take it in. Mrs. Bishop was weeping you
mad, ruth? He exclaimed. Do you know what ourselves and
going as far as decency permitted there aren't many girls
around here, and the ones that two gentlemen had arrived.
one had departed i see you believe that, he said. So did
i at the dwarf and dwarfess. And he took the knight's assurance,
of him, and she laid her hands upon his shoulders. Bring
him bad luck. Supposesupp°se that should the general government
advised them to remain they were apparently all deaf and
blind. They he saw her uniform and her apron. He was engrossed
idiot to restore him to the care of his own mother! I mean
that i love you yesterdayno. Todayyes. Pantry. It was still
like you sayin a dream. Nurse.'
my favourite part might be the inclusion of "Pantry." as a sentence on it's own. also, it might be almost as good as the one i got ages ago asking if my pokémon were "power-full"
4 day weekend plans - end the agony/mongoia/mob rules/cold snap on saturday, making a whole load of nacht und nebel stuff, reading, making cakes, not spending any money.
and, since it's effectively friday today and i think my brain's falling out..
there are 10 types of people in the world: those that understand binary and those that don't. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| 40* is a sensible amount of books to be buying in the space of about 24 hours, right? right.
the iron dream - norman spinrad
roadside picnic - arkady and boris strugatsky
mockingbird - walter tevis
the sirens of titan - kurt vonnegut
schild's ladder - greg egan
eden - tim smit
zeros and ones - sadie plant
strange angel: the otherworldly life of rocket scientist john whiteside parsons - george pendle
holy fire - bruce sterling
on lies, secrets and silence - adrienne rich
mariamne - pär lagerkvist
mission of gravity - hal clement
a case of conscience - james blish
an unnatural order: uncovering the roots of our domination of nature - jim mason
occult geometry - a s raleigh
tau zero - poul anderson
alison sinclair - cavalcade
emphyrio - jack vance
gateway - frederick pohl
where late the sweet birds sang - kate wilhelm
mother lines - suzy mckee charnas
venus plus x - theodore sturgeon
from the land of fear - harlan ellison
the soul of the ape - eugene marais
the black girl in search of god - george bernard shaw
again, dangerous visions: volume 2 - harlan ellison (ed)
cancer ward - alexander solzhenitsyn
the overloaded man - j g ballard
changing planes - ursula k le guin
334 - thomas m disch
in the hall of the martian kings - john varley
polystom - adam roberts
the mote in god's eye - larry niven and jerry pournelle
alison sinclair - legacies
alastair reynolds - redemption ark
alastair reynolds - revalation space
alastair reynolds - absolution gap
alastair reynolds - diamond dogs, turqouise days
john wyndham - chocky
hay-on-wye might be my new favourite place.
* i know there are only 39 on this list - one of the books i got from the honesty bookshop turned out to have the first 90 pages missing.. and in further honesty bookshop nonsense - alice got the journal of fantazius mallare from there for the necessary 30p. i think i paid about £12 for it when i got it!
edited because i forgot about chocky. terrible. (and called norman spinrad normal spindler..) | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| 'ello.
the gig on saturday went really well - all the bands were awesome (us excepted, but that's mainly to do with a magical mobile drumkit, i think), a whole bunch of good people, i didn't get called a dwarf by rogier (although i did get called a midget, so i think that still counts), i think i broke my face grinning while cathode were playing. a real good time, basically, and so good to see people i don't get to see nearly often enough. plus it was busy! reminded me why i don't always hate putting gigs on*. then team holland had to leave at 9 to get to southampton in time, so up at about 7 to make breakfast (bubble and squeak, beans, scrambled tofu, homemade bread). felt surprisingly well, considering there were some homebrew and 'aged' gin adventures (nothing too silly, mind) when we got home. then i spent most of the afternoon asleep, but not before sending rogier a photo of someone dressed up as robin hood (who we saw in town after moving equipment) to sate his obsession. [related aside: i don't think i'm going to be able to afford to get to brighton for ralf-fest or southampton the day after though, which is a shame. (actually, i know i can't, but i'm trying to delude myself into thinking there might be a small chance i can)]
perth express tonight - should be a good fun. it'll be nice to see them again, it's been, what, a year and a half since we were on tour? crazy. i don't even think i've got any garlic so i can't make enrico a garlic, ketchup and margarine sandwich**. what a scumbag.
so yeah, a week filled with good people and good times. which is nice. a bit more sleep would maybe come in useful at some point, but fuck it. and then manchester on thursday and hay-on-wye at the weekend. amazing.
as far as plans for that go, i don't think there's anything we want to do in town (i really don't think we need to find second hand bookshops, although that hippy-family one might be worth going to 'cos it's daft), so: chinese cash and carry for tofu lobster, unicorn, the marble for some ginger beer. probably in that order. i can't actually think of anything else. maybe a quick look at urbis if there's time and there's anything good in there at the moment? jo finishes work at 3.30 (i'm not sure where, thinking about it) so she's going to come find us not long after that. but i think that's it as far as plans go.
also, while i remember, the new dystopia record is fucking great.
* not just because it was busy (hell, the slomatics gig we put on last summer was a good time and 7 people came), more the fact the atmosphere (yuck) was really good and everyone was having a good time. plus it helped that everyone in the bands were, as i think jamie put it, sweethearts.
** actually amazing. sounds like it really shouldn't be though. also, it might be worth pointing out that i'm not at liberty to say how much my judgement was affected by it being about 4am and being pretty drunk and very hungry. it was fucking great at the time though! | | comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment |
| without going into detail because it'll get a) boring and b) me angry again, my pay this month, despite there only being two days at the start i didn't work because of when this contract started, is substantially less than the previous month. seems because the weekend fell between the two contracts, i don't get paid for that either. (so i get paid less because i wasn't in a contract on days i wouldn't be at work on anyway? uh?)
insane.
also, payoll didn't realise my contract had been extended out of the probationary period, so they only paid me until the end of that.
anyway, enough moaning (not to mention ignoring the first few words of this post)
dead in the woods have our second gig on saturday. at practice last night we pretty much learnt massacre by thin lizzy, but slower and substantially heavier. so much fun. i also broke my run of not breaking drumsticks for a couple of months. oh well.
apparently my nephew george likes dressing up in the bumblebee costume they have at his nursery (playgroup would be more accurate, i guess.) emma thinks he might be taking after me and my superted 'costume'* from when i was very small.
i'm very much looking forward to manchester/hay on wye adventures next weekend.
* a towel fastened round my neck with a safety pin as a cape and some red shorts with a shiny buckle. a source of much hilarity to all and sundry. well, my sister, at least. | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| dear manchester types,
on thursday march 6th, alice and i will be in manchester for the day. what time we arrive depends on trains and whatnot - i'll be getting there for about 11.30 i think, which should mean missing the expensive train times if i remember right. alice some other time, i imagine, since the likelihood of trains from nottingham and glasgow coinciding seems pretty slim.
plans so far include a) going to unicorn and b) having some ginger marble - so it looks like some sort of trip to chorlton will be in order (without me going to my old work, i suspect, even if it is only next to unicorn..)
not sure what time we'll be around until - we're getting a train from notts at 7 the next morning though, so probably not too late.
anyway, there you go. let me know if you're around at all, and i'll see if i can wangle some sort of plan together (or as much of a plan as i ever seem to be able to manage..)
further:
dear manchester,
please provide me with a tofu lobster to purchase.
thanks awfully. | | comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment |
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