2008

I am really struggling to remember what I did in the first few months of this year, Birmingham definately went downhill in terms of clubbing, no house music, little techno just bog standard drum'n'bass or shitty bassline. I can't remember any nights that shout out at me as being amazing therefore I guess there aren't any. I also think that because everything became pretty mediocre I more often than not couldn't be bothered as opposed to 2007 where I go anyway even if I was on my own.

The first marking point of this year for me was my trip to Lisbon, I loved the place and thought everyone I met was amazing. In the day I'd catch a train and go off and see a different part of Portugal then come back and get shitfaced with people from the hostel or just any other random Portuguese person who noticed that you were on your own. Cool.

Only a couple of weeks after that my Brother and I went to Rome which was OK, Dissonanze festival was OK but there was something about Rome that I wasn't too impressed with. It was alright, I wouldn't go back in a hurry though. Maybe its a place for couples rather than a party town - although some serious partying was achieved.

My birthday again was OK the sun was out for what was probably the only time this year. It coincided with payday so the usual work suspects were out as well as my friends so a drunken night was enjoyed by all.

Sonar in June was as good as ever. Best bits were all of the Saturday night (Ricardo Villabos, meeting a dead nice French girl, Dubfire and enjoying pro status) as well as El Guincho and Frankie Knuckles. I went with Dan but we kept losing each other (I guess this suited us both).

The British weather this year has been dreadful, I can't remember any prolonged period of sunshine and its either been raining, cold, cold and raining, cloudy and cold or cold, cloudy and raining. I think this has been the worst summer ever.

The Big Chill was the next marking point of the year, again I don't think that there was anything much going on in Brum. I enjoyed the Big Chill, highlights included Roisin Murphy, Dan getting told off for having sex too loud, find a shop selling very nice bottles of wine for less than a tenner and the eighties party with Eddie the Eagle Edwards on the final night.

I took Joshua to Callela early in September and did absolutely nothing. Discovered that you can can buy Duff beer in Spain (brewed somewhere over here) it tastes disgusting (as I suppose a beer based on a cartoon beer probably should).

Had planned to go to the Amsterdam Dance Event decided not to because I'd spend too much money instead I had four days of monsterness finishing off in Sheffield for Gemma's birthday. I spent far too much money. :)

Dan moved out and went to Iceland.

Last few weeks have been quite nice, been out a lot but not in an overdoing it kind of way, I've been to see comedy/bands/art and generally been keeping busy.

Overall the year has been OK not good not bad certainly nothing life changing has happened or bad has happened (touch wood three weeks to go yet!). Still stuck in a bit of rut. Had some cool trips away. Musten grumble I suppose.

2008 its been alright.

Next year I plan to try and make a few changes but more about that another time.

The National Lottery.

My numbers were:

1 2 3 29 36 45

I didn't win. I have to go to work tomorrow. :(

No Sleep Til Bedtime

I've been out five out of six nights this week.

Monday - Just a couple of pints with Phil in the Country Girl.

Tuesday - Went to the Laughing Sole Comedy at the British Oak and laughed myself silly to the plate smashing act Trevor Organ. Very funny.

Wednesday - My night off watching bad TV.

Thursday - Saw the Villa, had a couple of beers before and after. Was alright, don't really see what all the fuss about football is. There is a much nicer atmosphere and funnier banter at the crickt.

Friday - My works do. Drank far too much. Went to the Academy afterwards where the Futureheads were playing. No that I was in any fit state to tell.

Saturday - The Hare and Hounds with Joe. We went upstairs but Joe didn't like it. Had a bit of a hair raising experience walking through Newlands Park.

Powerplant - Import/Export

I went to see Powerplant a trio consisting of percussionist Joby Burgess, sound designer Matthew Fairclough and visual designer Kathy Hinde at the Birmingham Conservatiore. The night was billed as an experimental, high octane, challenging repertoire. It was Monday and had bugger all else to do so thought why not?

The night consisted of two parts first five peices with the midi xylosynth and the second a peice in eight parts using general debris.

The music alternated between the sort of stuff that you think yes its interesting but its actually a bit rubbish wouldn't you say to cool that's really clever and actually sounds rather good.

The first peice was Audiotectonics III - this layered up sounds sampled and messed around with from the xylophone until it sounded like something lemon jelly would produce from a thousand different records. Next up was Carbon Copy, at first this sounded terrible, banging on some kind of ethnic instrument isn't the best of things to listen to however what the artists were actually doing was taking peices of noise messing with it and the looping it over and over again until it sounded really cool.

Electric Counterpoint was my favourite part of the night, basically a cover version of a Steve Reich guitar peice that samples and loops and samples and loops so you have over 100 bits of the same instrument being played at the same time.

The next two tunes were so so - one rainforest sounds and the other made entirely from samples of George W Bush and Donald Rumsfeld - I suppose both were kind of hypnotic in their own ways but not my cup of tea really, a bit too avant garde for me I guess.

The second part of the evening was so-so, banging plastic bags, scraping keys across barrels, tapping bottles together, banging on bits of drift wood. Quite clever in a way but I doubt that you'd listen to it at home

Atomic Jam

I met Joe in the British Oak for a couple of beers, I was going to meet up with Steffi before she left for Berlin but Joe was being lazy and a bit poor as ever and wouldn't leave. After bumping into Grant and Donna 2 I ran off to have a pint or three in the Island Bar with Steffi, Maria, Gareth and Josie, not many people at the leaving do which was a bit of a shame...Dar was there but chatting to others and didnae really speak to him.

I had already bought tickets to go to Atomic Jam but in hindsight should have stayed with the others at the Island Bar. I don't really like the Que Club a great deal, I find it overprices and a bit grotty and money grubbing really. Speedy J was dead good and the lights fucking good, Joey Beltram however was pretty average.

My life has gone back from midnight til whenever partying to some kind of 8-1, which I suppose isn't a bad thing. It's just I'd quite like to switch between the two.

Tales of Stupidity, Debauchery and Drunkeness

Last night we reminisced with a certain friend who now lives in Germany, his younger brother was both shocked and amused to here tales of fire, beer, car crashes and many other topics. I suspect he will never see his brother in the same light.

I think I agreed to go to Germany so that I can attain some more tales of stupidy, drunkeness and general debauched behaviour. ;)

Murcof

I was/am very tempted to go and see Murcof at the Hare and Hounds tonight. I've been checking out his music today and have enjoyed it greatly, while it is pretty slow it definately has some qualities that appeal to me, perfect sunday afternoon music.

However I don't really fancy paying a tenner to see a bloke look at his laptop. It turns out that I have actually already seen him before at the Dissonanze festival but was probably looking for something a bit more upbeat that night and don't really think was in the mood to listen to drone music.

He is supported by the "Jimi Hendrix of the Tuba World" but I didn't really see much appeal to that music. I have ten minutes to decide whether to go or not but in all honesty will probably watch Top Gear instead.

Francios, lovely, cor....

je souhaite ete le bloke that was on top of...

fook.

Posts

I have no idea what the post below was about, I think maybe they are putting strange chemicals in the beer at the Shakespeare.

I have been extremely hungover today and I can't quite work out why???? I drank five pints of Kronenbourg over a four and a half hour period, which is not exactly a great deal by my standards. I have felt like death all day, I have been about as productive as all those statistics that warn bosses about employee drinking.

I had an hour long meeting and then proceeded to distract everyone else from their jobs - not that they were doing a great deal anyway - we work in the public sector after all. I still feel shitty. Although I have now had a wash, I have had a smelly day at work today, luckily nobody had to come too near me.

Every evening I think I should do something creative however what normally happens is that I either look at shapely breasts on the internet or shoot aliens on my xbox or go to the pub. Tonight however I am going to do one of the exercises from How Clean is Your Parachute (it's called something like that) which involves drawing your dream life with pencil crayons to help me visualize my dream job. I think it could possibly involve looking at real life shapely breasts, occasionally killing aliens on the xbox and going down the pub only in a place next to a beach where I have a hammock.

Aeroplane Tickets

I notice today that BMI Baby were having a summer flights sale so thought I'd check to see if I was losing out big time on my Sonar flights (silly I know) and when I saw that they'd dropped to £1.04 each way plus taxes totalling about £40, I thought "ooooh you bugger! That could have bin me taxi home". However on proceeding to see how much it cost to take a bag and and pay on a card and other various additions you were looking at you were looking at another fourty quid. So in fact I didn't lose out. Ha ha...

I FEEL LIKE THIS

But what I really should feel is like:

Julia Bradbury

I think I love her.



Almost as much as:

Sonar 2009

I've flight tickets for Sonar 2009!

£55 from East Midlands Airport. I could go from Birmingham but the flight home gets back at some ridiculous time and taxis around here cost about a million quid.

Ch-Ch-Changes!

I think maybe I need a job change. I've bin with the Police for five years have not had a pay rise for eighteen months and am not going to get one for at least another six, I am at the bottom of my pay scale and jobs have just happened to have come up when I've been on holiday and the closing before I've got back which obviously is going to piss you off.

I think I'll go mad if I was to stay there another five years or even worse become troll-like similar to many of the long-termers have at that place. If I stay another twelve months may holiday would increase to 33 days and I reckon I'd become completely rut stucken.

I'm not sure what to do - go back to academia and do a Phd and become Dr Clifford, retrain in something completely different, train in something similar, move sideways, move to a different company, stay where I am have a moan and try and get a better deal or something else. I'm trying to work that out at the moment.

Day One - No Booze - He he he...

Well I think I've proven that I am completely useless at abstinence, I suggested to Tim that perhaps I needed a nagging girlfriend to tell me that I was not allowed out the house but he reckoned that she just make me go out with her and we'd end up arguing about kebabs at three in the morning.

I think maybe going to a place that sells alcohol four nights in a row whilst trying to stay off the booze was probably madness.

Wednesday I was lucky enough to be given some free tickets to see Steve Coogan at the NIA - that was alright I was able to resist Ben's constant offers of alcohol. Thursday, more comedy at the Glee Club and again I easily batted off suggestions of a pint - £2.20 for a lemonade did make me wobble slightly. Friday I just couldn't face the taste of Carling - yuk. Three nights in a row and I was feeling quite pleased with myself.

However...ah well. Cutting down is the key I suspect.

Saturday at the Custard Factory was rather cool. I saw Pissed Jeans - OK slightly watered down Iggy Pop. Wooden Shjips - ace krautrocking stoner drone rock thing with big beards and dodgy cardies. OM a slightly dull bass and drums twosome not the best. Then of course Shellac who were Shellac.

I have just beaten Joe about 79-0 at badminton or perhaps even more impressively. Exercise is good (I may not agree tomorrow) I feel quite good.

Its a Rainy Night in Birmingham...

...and it feels like it's raining all over the world.

Man I am Mr Grumpy today. Woke up feeling rubbish, it was dark wet and miserable and I could have done with some hyperactive happy person around me to ge me out of my dreadful mood, or not, maybe that would have made it worse.

Met up with Chris, Shellie, Grant, Donna and babies but that's not cheered me up much...bah! Drank some beer - so much for abstinence.

I am now listening to Tom Waits. Happy happy. It's cold and pissing down outside.

Be alright tomorrow, I suppose.

My Name is Richard and I am an Alcoholic

I am sitting in a skeleton costume pissed off because I couldn't last a week...rubbish...

Lightning Bolt

I'm going to see this lot tonight, I asked Paul if he wanted to come but he said he thought it would be "too hectic" ha ha haha ha ha old bastard.

Falling Off the Wagon

I went to the pub and was bullied - well not that hard - into a drink which I really didn't fancy. I supped less than a fifth of it over an hour, made my excuses and left. I felt a bit bad for not going out properly with Aaron on his leaving do but I want to at least last a week off the ale.

And the fact that the beer was Carling sort of helped. ;)

Anyway I'm not counting the fifth of a pint - that's like a teetotaller suffering a sip of wine to raise a glass for something. He he.

Day Something or Other, 6 I Think - Wobbling

Wobbling, after two days of being good in the pub and one alcohol free friday lunchtime - the four o'clock friday night post work pint is calling....aghhhh.....

:(

First Test - Day 3

This morning my boss asked me to go to a pub quiz, I made my excuses. Normally the answer would have been 'Oh alright then.' so I guess that means I passed the first test...albiet a small one.

Last Nights Party

Tim introduced me to this website, I really don't know why he's been looking at it. ;)

I Have This.

Taken from http://www.rupissed.com/hangoverintensity.html

The "I've Been Drunk For 3 Days" Hangover

Now you're wading into serious waters. You partied in grand style Friday night, got an early start Saturday but still managed to still go the distance. Saturday afternoon was a blast but around 10pm you noticed you still had your sunglasses on and couldn't remember the sun going down. Sunday was basically auto-pilot with your body subconsciously doing a re-run of Saturday with no conscious effort required on your part - drink, fall down, get back up, repeat. Now it's Monday and you're no longer able to speak and ghost beatniks pound your skull like a bongo. You can't eat, and sleep won't help. You have no concept of time. Day, night, all you know is that you are conscious. You pass out on the bathroom floor and wake up to somebody whispering your name, but you can't turn around to see them.

Cure: House cleaning, scratchy country blues CDs, long showers, religion, masturbation, re-hab, French cinema & cuisine

Avoid: Cheap beer, Brady Bunch re-runs, parents, crowded places

No Booze - Day Two

I feel poisoned...There is not a cats chance in hell that I would even look at booze today....I can't remember ever having a hangover that gets worse on the second day before. Maybe I am genuinely ill like Gemma was on Sunday afternoon. Or maybe its like what Tim said, the three pints of real ale did it (and not the five, six, seven pints of other beer and cider followed by bottles of wine).

I feel sick.

Today was easy too.

No Booze - Day One

Well day one is pretty easy... ;)

Have read a few blogs of people who have done this before. Firstly Spaceman, who's tactic was to not go out at all (which I think is cheating) and then Rikke Bruntse-Dahl (Part One, Part Two) but she didn't actually manage 30 days which is definately cheating!

A Month Off Booze

I have had an extremely heavy weekend on the alcomohol, starting off on Thursday night with free wine and beardstrokelectonica at Hello Digital and head wetting session in the Country Girl, followed on Friday with a marathon post-work/Emma's birthday session, rounded off with a trip to Fuzztival in Sheffield with Tim and Gemma.

I think maybe this weekend I have polished off the best part of three weeks recommended alcohol intake in three days. Detrimental to my health? I would have thought so. So this afternoon whilst feeling rather sick on the train home have decided that I should abstain from alcohol for the Month of November.

But then I realised that maybe I can't do that having a few Birthdays towards the end of the month so instead I have decided to go 30 days from my last drink which was a half bottle of wine at half one-ish this morning which think will take me to about half-one Nov 24th.

Sticking points will be Aaron's leaving do on Friday, the Release the Bats ATP party on Saturday, the Home of Metal night in a couple of weeks time, Francios K at the Custard Factory, Joey Beltram at the Que Club....hmmmm.

Ellen Allien and Amsterdam

I should be in Amsterdam now. I am not. A few weeks ago I went to see Modeselektor and Ellen Allien at Fabric, they were both extraordinarily average. Fabric was hideously busy and I found myself wondering why I had left the pub with Nick in Hertford. I wasn't having a shit time but if I had been in Brum I probably would have cut my losses and gone home.

I think sometime sober at three or four in the morning I began to wonder whether or not I should be going to the Amsterdam Dance Event on my own. I think after an age of having nobody who shares the same interests and been left with the decision either to go it alone or give up you eventually give up and don't go. Well perhaps this isn't true and maybe it was just a bad night and maybe I was just disappointed with Fabric/Ellen Allien/Modeselektor. But what ever the reason I made the decision to not go.

I am kind of regretting the decision now because my flight left two hours ago and I would probably be enjoying a beer at a dutch bar. And I always have an ace time going away on my own meeting random people who are also on there own. And the last two times I have been away I have had ladies show me their bristols. he he....

Snot all bad, I won't be spunking a billion pound up the wall, I'm going to the very much "work related" Hello World Conference tomorrow, tis pay day friday and also Emma's birthday and I'm off to sunny Sheffield Saturday for Gemma's pre-birthday-birthday party and maybe I'll stay up long enough to catch some Fright Night...So I can't really complain..and maybe I will be spunking a billion billlion billllllion pounds up the wall...

And Ellien Allien is still rather lovely even if she was shit.

;)

Dissonanze 8

I chanced across this video of the Dissonanze festival which I thought was pretty cool.

Dan's Graduation

Dan flew back for his graduation yesterday, I went to meet him for a beer. He arranged to meet his mates in the Nightingale Club but thankfully they wouldn't let me in because we didn't have the requisite wristband for graduands. Dan argued his way in but I was standing a little out the way and missed me chance or took my chance depending on which way you want to look at it and caught the last bus home.

Its funny how even though I one lager and one wheat beer I still felt shite this morning. Probably still recovering from the weekend.

I have been converting pretty little pictures from svg to xaml today, a burgled house, a stolen car, a burgled factory....This Silverlight thing seems very buggy, either that or it is clashing with the monitoring software that I reckon that they've installed on everyones machines.

My Weekend

I attempted to have a quiet one this weekend which as always meant that I found myself off my face in some dark club listening to electronic beats. Met up with Joe and to be perfectly honest drank so much that I now have huge holes in my memory. Apparently we went to the Prince of Wales and spoke to Dar. I remember jumping on the bus only to discover that I had no money. I remember going to the Custard Factory and seeing the Deuce Soundsystem lads and some of the people from the Sonar queue 2007. I remember wandering around in a daze. I also remember being in about fifteen minds about whether or not to go home.

I felt awful on Sunday morning but still had to drag myself out of bed to collect Joshua...I felt horrible all day...

I've been drinking far too much lately methinks, not for any reason, simply because it's been there or because I've met people in the pub. I seem to be getting very drunk very quickly, maybe because I haven't being eating a hearty meal beforehand or maybe my body can't handle it anymore or maybe it's because I've been drinking Tennant Super (only joking.)

Gary said that I should know better at my age...but then he is only 23 or something so he would say that. ;)

I've spent too much money too, wasted that should probably read.

Ladies Make Passes at Gentlemen With Moustaches

I'm putting on a charity event, all welcome.

Bah

A belated moan that nobody would come and see the Levellers with me on Sunday. BAH!

Woo Learning Stuff

I've actually had a productive day at work and have learned some stuff! The real crux is when I actually have to put theory in practice...

Reason, Keyboard and Geek Chic

I have succesfully managed to get my (broken) keyboard to work with Reason, hurrah. Now I just nead some ideas so that I can make a million selling single or at least a cult hit or at the least something that isn't just shit noise...any suggestions?

I've been thinking for a while that I'd quite like to have a go at making my own controller type things like this guy but not having an electronics background didn't really know where to start but then I stumbled across Tinker IT who do weekend work shops that look pretty interesting and are a reasonably priced too.

It would be cool to make something like this:



www.monome.org
http://www.larsby.com/johan/moanonme/

bleep.com

Oooooh Artsfest Fireworks

Yesterday was rather entertaining, first up I caught Soweto Kinch - I think he was playing his Jazz Planet song but it quickly descended into a jazz freeform wank session most people including myself looked a bit bemused there were a few fast show jazz nice types seemingly enjoying it.

The Electic Cinema Orchestra playing movie theme tunes along to the films was quite fun, I rather fancied one of the singers, the sun was out for what seemed like the only time this year so far.

After food in the Lloyds Bar (beer and burger number two for Fatboy Hutchinson) was time for the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Ballet seems really odd to me, I'm sure its all rather hard to do but it looks so ridiculous, I prefered the modern dance at Benicassim. One of the ballet dancers had the biggest balls ever!

The main event weeeeeeeeeeeeee bang, fireworks don't really impress me. Glad to see that the had actually spent money on the arts rather than the fireworks this year.

The last part of the night involved faffing around looking for my brother because his new girlfriend had decided to arrive with actually telling him that he was coming or something. Silly girl.

I was a pretty cool day but in someways it is rather embarrassing for the City of Birmingham on the whole the empty, I know we've had a great deal of rain this year and the advertisment of the event was poor but you'd think a city of a million people would be able to get a decent crowd out for what is one of the biggest free arts events in Europe.

Birmingham Its Not Shit (It's Fucking Awful)

I picked up a flier for The Warehouse Project in Manchester, there are an absolutely enormous number of acts playing there over the next three months. Birmingham on the other hand apart from the Eclectricity stuff mentioned below has a few lowest common denominator chavline house and d'n'b nights and as far as I can see on my trawls through the Internet not a fat fucking lot else. I'm heading to the ADE in October and there is so much on over that weekend that I can't actually decide what I want to go and see.

Eclectricity tend to put on a fairly good night, Josh Wink is playing at the Q club in a couple of weeks but that'll be cost the earth and anyway I'm going to see Ellen Allien at Fabric on the same night. Also brum has the Eclectricity "Boutique Festival" which I think means costs about fifteen quid more than a normal a club night, festival my arse.

Tis about time some budding promoters put their arses into gear and organised something interesting - so far this year has been dreadful. I mean how many more times will Pendulum play at the Custard Factory before Christmas?

Right I'm off to the Artsfest to see if that has improved since last year.

Postcard From Callela

Weather is fine. Not doing an awful lot. Wish you were here... ;)

What I Done On My Holiday

Sat on the beach, sat next to the pool, ate food, drank some beer (but not much) and not great deal else. Chilled out. It was rather nice.

Not Busy

I am not busy today, this looks like I might possibly be doing something. I have asked my boss three times for something to do but am still waiting.

I have been writing some recursive functions which is the horriblest thing in the world they loop and loop until you get dizzy and fall over.

My Ellen Allien CD has not yet turned up! Bah.

Everything is Rubbish

Bank Holiday Weekend time again, Friday I had to stay in the pub next to work waiting for a call that would tell me to go back to work to press a few buttons on the keyboard...Mark (my boss) drank three bottles of wine in the space of two hours and got THAT I'm rather pissed and can't stand up straight look. He shortly disappeared (rather a sensible idea) and I got the call to key.

Next I went and met Phil in the Hotel du Vin where he was having a school reunion, I didn't stay, good job, apparently it was £4.50 for a half of lager.

On to the Sunflower Lounge to meet Dan and My Brother via the Old Contemptibles (now ruined if you ask me) for a couple more beers, only I'd gone past the point of wanting to stay out drinking (something that seems to happen a lot earlier nowdays) and decided it was time to jump on the train and go home. However I fell asleeeeeeeeZZZZZZZZZ...waking up in Redditch with no way of getting home...ten minutes late scratching my head trying to arouse myself from my daze I went and found a taxi that would bring me home from (almost) rural Worcestershire....sleep.

Next morning I had Rebecca texting me wanting to know why I hadn't picked Joshua up yet as she was going out - she has a car, lives fifteen minute walk away, she could have dropped him off - quickly up the road, then a day spent trawling charity shops for second hand CDs with not much luck - I bought a moshi moshi compilation (OK nothing special) - then took him to my sisters because I was on call and I *KNEW* I would get called out.

Tis the 80's, Cyndi Lauper is rubbish - so rubbish in fact that it makes Dan leave after the third play - maybe more places should play Cyndi Lauper x3, he he....I like the 80s night at the Hare and Hounds it is stoopid. We chatted to some girls called ....bby and ......bby who enjoyed Joe's cigarettes greatly.

Got home at half two, went to bed at three, got woken at half eight, arrived at work at half nine, pressed some buttons in a daze, waited ages to speak to user and then went to my sisters to get Joshua. Most of the rest of Sunday was spent in the pub. Pub-Dinner-Home-Pub-Home. Dan doesn't like minimal techno, it is rubbish apparently - not sure where the minimal techno was but it is rubbish anyway. Maybe he'd like to listen to Cyndi Lauper instead.

Monday - I wasn't intending to drink - I drank a lot. Saw some Art too, which wasn't the best.

Nothing much happened at the weekend, I did however put back a number of ales.

Mentor

This week I have been mentoring. Ha ha ha ha. Richard's skool of computering. Its been a rather long week............

Last night I went to the pub with Ben and my Brother and Sarah who talks an awful lot, I was not talkative - I should have gone to the land of nod rather than land of beer. Ah well.

Dan came too, the landlady looked at him like a rancid turd had just walked through the door. I expect she was even less impressed with the fact the he was "Stingo I'm Not Buying A Pint" Dan. He reckons that the only reason she looked at him with disgust was because he wasn't wearing his best chav clothes, I think it's because he looked like a smack addict tramp. He he.

ZX Spectrum Orchestra Man

I sat behind one half of the ZX Spectrum Orchestra on the number 50 bus. He was reading a maths text book. Ace! I was on my way to the Hare and Hounds to meet Mr Cooper. I ended up drinking far too many pints of Staropramen and couldn't drink the last one. I felt sick.

DJ Mag has a bouncy house mix CD from Steve Aoki. Bouncy bouncy....

Why?

Does everything take fifty times longer than you think it will?

I hate computer programming.

What's Not On....

There has been absolutely nothing on in Birmingham for ages, the Rainbow is ruined, the Custard Factory only plays D'n'B or charges a fortune for some dodgy house, Air was never that good and the Que club is just a rip off.....

Bah!

Last night I saw a shitty gypsy jazz band that Caroline thought were amazing but then she is wierd. Following that was a live junglist group from Bristol who sounded about as fresh as New Forms does now.....ah well at least it was a cheap night oh...fuck...

Drunks

Monday nights are not for leaving parties, come Tuesday there were many many casualties and I suspect that the office productivity was somewhat less than 100%. Mine on the other hand was at least 105% ha ha.

Que Club is Pants Shocker

One open toilet, one rather green looking lad collapsing on horse tranquillizes, a stupid queue, one open bar and one room containing a smell of kebabs with Danny Rampling playing skool disko house music with no interest and mixing skills worse than than fatboy norman cook slim on a shite day in Richard's eyes do not make for a good night.

Ah well at least neither Man Utd nor Chelsea will be winning the F.A. Cup.

Saturday Night.

I have that Saturday feeling, I'm listening to Blue Monday drinking a beer waiting to go out......

Saturday Night
Dee Dee na na na
Saturday night, I feel the air
Is getting hot
Like you baby
I'll make you mine you know
I'll take you to the top
I'll drive you crazy
Saturday night, dance, I like
The way you move
Pretty baby
It's party time and not one
Minute we can lose
Be my baby
Da ba da dan dee dee dee da
Nee na na na - be my baby
Da ba da dan dee dee dee da
Nee na na na - Pretty baby
Saturday night, I feel the air
Is getting hot
Like you baby
I'll make you mine you know
I'll take you to the top
I'll drive you crazy
Saturday night, dance, I like
The way you move
Pretty baby
It's party time and not one
Minute we can lose
Be my baby
Saturday night, dance, I like
The way you move
Pretty baby
It's party time and not one
Minute we can lose
Be my baby - ooh ooh
Saturday - saturday
Saturday night
Saturday night
..
De dee na na na

Ha ha ha ha haha.

.

I watched Dr Zhivago last night. I think Julie Christie was/still is gorgeous!

BLOGGING

BACK FROM THE PUB PROBABLY SHOULDN'T BE NEAR A COMPUTER BECAUSE I MIGHT WRITE STUFF THAT I REGRET IN THE MORNING. CANT GOTO BED BECAUSE I HAVE TO WAIT FOR MY CLOTHES TO FINISH IN THE WASHING MACHINE....

HAVE JUST BEEN TO THE COMEDY NIGHT IN THE BRITISH OAK, I THINK THEY HAVE GIVEN UP ANY IDEA OF IT BEING A "CLEAN" COMEDY NIGHT.

SHOULD PROBABLY STOP WRITING IN CAPITALS...I'VE HEARD THAT THEY ARE NOT TOO READABLE.

I KEEP A DIARY WHICH MEANS THAT THIS IS THE SANITISED VERSION....APPARENTLY KURT COBAIN, KURDT COBAIN, KURT KOBAIN DIDN'T WANT PEOPLE TO READ HIS DIARY AFTER HIS DEATH BUT WAS QUITE HAPPY FOR PEOPLE TO NOSE THROUGH HIS DIARY WHILE HE WAS ALIVE...IS THAT BECAUSE HE NEVER WROTE DOWN WHAT HE ACTUALLY THOUGHT?

I'M OFF TO ROME, I WANT TO GO TO IBIZA AGAIN. I'VE BEEN OFFERED A SPACE ON A BALCONY FOR NOTHING, FAIR ENOUGH NOT MUCH SLEEPING GOING ON ANYWAY BUT....I TOLD BEN ABOUT THE LAST TIME I WENT OUT PROPERLY, HE RECKONS I AM TOO OLD OR OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER....I LOVE SPACE...FLIGHTS ARE £120 NOT TOO MUCH BUT THEN AGAIN.....

THERE'SAPROPPERNIGHTOUTBUILDINGUPI'MPISSEDOFFWITHWORKATTHEMOMENT.

alllLLLL i'VE GOT IN MY HEAD AS OF NOW IS "I live for the weekend, I live for the weekend, I live for the weekend, I live for the weekend, going out tonight, going out tonight, going out tonight, going out tonight, going out tonight, going out tonight, going out tonight, going out tonight, going out tonight, going out tonight.....................

.

Wh.a..t...a....s....l.....o......w.......w......e.....e.....e...........k!!!

Writing software to parse XML is driving me nuts...every time I fix something another part breaks...my computer programming job is so frustrating I go from having to work out one thing that I don't really understand to having learn something that I don't really understand or care to understand to looking up something else I don't understand properly to fixing yet another thing that I don't quite understand...and it loops and loops and loops and loops and while (1 <> 2)....

I can never remember any syntax, I have to look everything up...but perhaps that's not a bad thing I suppose you'd have to be slightly autistic or very boring to remember all of that shite.

Nothing at all has happened since Saturday, I haven't had a full day off in what feels like forever.

Boring post. Sorry. I've not done much lately. And there's no stupid unrequited love thing going on to talk about. Just work. And not too much play to speak of.

Oh yeah I saw Seasick Steve on Saturday, his set was very similar to the one he did at Bestival only longer but not too much...he's very good when he gets the Sonic Youth style feedback going but can be a bit slow otherwise.....entertaining enough.

Haven't had a "large" one in a while, trying not to made me ill last time, bit skint (understatement) but I'll keep you posted if I do. Assuming I can still write afterwards....

Slow..........Week.

Pub tomorrow?

Brokeback Mountain in the Green Man

Richard is feeling a little lonesome

David too

How about it Dave?

David needs some persuasion

I'll give you a fiver

Richard gets a little frisky to say the least...

[CENSORED]

What the....

How the fuck did I manage to spend SIXTY QUID!!! last night? There were no huge rounds, there were three of us in the taxi (and Joe paid most of it), I didn't drink a huge amount and the dodgy nightclub we went to was only a fiver to get into...

Bizarre.

For a change I feel like this:

You show us everything you've got
You keep on dancin' and the room gets hot
You drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy
You say you wanna go for a spin
The party's just begun, we'll let you in
You drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy
You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin'

I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day
I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day
I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day
I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day

You keep on saying you'll be mine for a while
You're lookin' fancy and I like your style
You drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy
You show us everything you've got
Baby, baby that's quite a lot
And you drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy
You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin'

I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day
I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day
I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day
I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day
I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day
I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day
I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day
I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day
I wanna rock and roll

Personal Development Review

Apparently I am competant at work....and will be getting a increment on the pay scale...however my time keeping is a load of poopy and have to get to work at nine in the morning....I don't normally get up till then. :)

Richard C's Big Night Out

Wine at home (v.nice).
Can of John Smiths on the bus (yuk).
One Lager in the Bulls Head followed by a Cuba Libre.
A pint in the horrid horrid Weatherspoons.
A drunken Emma in the fighting cocks.
Tired rock music at subculture.
A queue.
Some fucking great music.
Some moody drumnbass types squaring up to each other.
A lovely blonde girl.
Too much too much.
After clubs are the best.
After clubs are the worst.
A moment of reflection.
Fights in fast food joints.
The Longest journey home ever.
Bed.
No sleep.