Phils stag do in Nottingham was pretty entertaining although he did get off a little bit lightly. We all met up at New Street Station just before 11am and with the exception of Karl nobody thought it would be good idea to any boozing on the train. We arrived into Nottingham in good time, the sun was out and we hit our first pub the VAT and Fiddle. First pint went down very quickly and it was no time at all before we had entered the doors of the Fellows, Morton and Clayton.
After our second pint those that were staying over decided that it would probably be a good idea to go and check-in to our hotel. This took absolutely ages, the staff in the Jurys Inn in Nottingham didn't appear to have a clue what they were doing, to make matters worse they decided that we would have to pay a deposit on the rooms but didn't tell us until after we had put it on our cards that it would take up to nine days to get our money back.
So after we eventually managed to dump our bags and bits and pieces in the room we headed back to pub number three the Canalhouse where the daytrippers were by now two or three pints each ahead of us. Another quick pint ensued and then it was time to walk up the road to "England's Oldest Inn". As we got the beers in a plumber type person decided that it was time for him start pumping out foul smelling stuff out of the drains right next to where we are sitting. I'm not sure whether or not Paul has any sense of smell or enjoys the odour of beastly drains but he took some convincing to leave his seat and join everybody else who had run to the other side of the beer garden.
By now everybody was quite out of sync in terms of finishing beers at the same time in order for us to move around the map of boozers as planned. Phil and I had drained our beers an others had only just got served and when we bought another there was near revolt against the pub crawl plan. When it was time to move on the next pub we only took half of the gang with us, others stayed in the "Britains Oldest Inn" to finish off their beers.
As we walked into the Castle I had the horrible feeling that there was no real ale on which would have caused further consternation but there was a few hiding at the end of the bar. Eventually the others caught up with us but by now another breakaway group had formed who ran off to the Salutation Inn missing out the Roundhouse entirely. Another beer and one amusing incident with the statue of Robin Hood and the bouncer who had appeared out of nowhere later the group was fully formed again.
Well not quite, Dave's friend (who's name I cannot remember) was a little bit worse for wear and threw up right in front of the Barman as he was walking in to the pub. "I suppose you aren't going to let me in now, are you?" says Dave's mate to the Barman. No chance.
By now the majority of us are on our seventh, eighth or ninth pints depending on which breakaway group they had ran off with. It was time for the daytrippers to head off home and after much hippy-like soppiness from Karl they eventually left whilst the overnighters left to go the second from last pub on the map.
The Malt House has an little art gallery upstairs which Colin and Stephen insisted that I visited. As I did a man with grey hair came out and told me to get the fuck out. The Bell, from memory was a quiet boozer with real ale, it isn't any longer, inside they had flashing lights and loud music, something that most of the gang abhor. ;)
A couple more drinks and I decided that it was time we left to go somewhere else and dragged everyone up to the Old Angel, a pub that I spent rather a lot of my youth inside. Upstairs was doom/metal all dayer and I decided to have a look to see what was going on, I think we were supposed to pay but Richard, Colin and I just marched in regardless. The band that was playing were a shit hot Sabbath-a-like band from Leeds who impressed the three of us greatly.
Back downstairs the others were boozing, Phil had been told by his cock-rocker mates that Rock City was shite which meant that Phil didn't want to go there, or at least Paul didn't want to go there and he insisted on running off down the road to go and see if it was still open. Being half ten it inevitably was.
Here some people disappeared, off to find a curry house in Central Nottingham.
Left with me was Phil, Simon, James, Paul and Adrian and we went back to the Salutation where Paul promptly fell asleep. Oh if I'd only had a marker pen on my it would have been oh so different. The barman kept brining us biros but none of them would allow us to draw penises on Paul's forehead. We had to make do with lipstick on his lips.
Two more beers, some cigarettes, a sambucca and a tequila later it was closing time and we had to leave. Paul was now away and was running around asking random people where he could find a curry house, I had already told him that there was nowhere in Central Nottingham at that time of night that would still be open and the randoms also told him this. Eventually we found a chippy where I had a kebab with extra extra chilli sauce on top.
Then it was hometime. So it was a very boozy but ultimately very sensible stag do and Phil got away with not having to wear his Zardoz costume, also I had left my camera in the hotel room so apart from a few pics at the start of the day there is no documentary evidence of drunken behaviour. ;)
Saturday, October 06, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Amsterdam
Prior to going to TodaysArt Dan and I spent three days getting drunk in Amsterdam, the first night was pretty quiet as I'd been travelling for well over 12 hours and wasn't really up for a big night. We were staying in a hostel room with a million other beds inside and in the bunk underneath mine was a very strange young man who muttered to himself rather menacingly everytime anybody else made a noise. Ah the joys of dormitories.
Our hostel was next the the museum square so it would have been rude not to have visited at least one of them so next morning we had a look in the Rijksmuseum. It was a lot smaller than I was expecting and looked from the outside. It does hold some fantastic paintings from the Dutch golden age, much amusement is found looking at those slice of life paintings trying to find people shitting in various different places. Not that the shitting was my favourite part of the gallery no, this was the the father and son portraits (I think by Rembrandt), an austere father and smug fat dandy of a son looking rather pleased with himself couldn't have offered a greater contrast.
After the museum we wandered around the city with no set plan and eventually found ourselves in a pub probably a bit too early and this set the scene for the rest of the time in Amsterdam.
That night was spent drinking in the red light area, which is a little bizarre and leaves you feeling like a naughty schoolboy as you pass ladies standing around in their underwear beckoning you to come in, I had no intention of doing so, besides I was on a budget. :)
We ended the night in a rock bar and then a crappy pop music bar where Dan and I discussed how much we liked Lady Gaga, ha ha. Well I did anyway, Dan says I am not allowed to like music no more.
The next day went along similar lines, although we had vowed not start drinking so early. We visited the Anne Frank and Van Gogh museums and then ended up boozing in the red light area. We visited the "world famous" Grasshopper Cafe, didn't smoke any of that Marajuana stuff and instead paid nearly €8 for a crappy pint of Heineken. Strangely the bars seemed to close an awful lot earlier than they had the previous night which left us wandering around looking for somewhere else to carry on and add to the already copious amounts we had already necked.
Our hostel was next the the museum square so it would have been rude not to have visited at least one of them so next morning we had a look in the Rijksmuseum. It was a lot smaller than I was expecting and looked from the outside. It does hold some fantastic paintings from the Dutch golden age, much amusement is found looking at those slice of life paintings trying to find people shitting in various different places. Not that the shitting was my favourite part of the gallery no, this was the the father and son portraits (I think by Rembrandt), an austere father and smug fat dandy of a son looking rather pleased with himself couldn't have offered a greater contrast.
After the museum we wandered around the city with no set plan and eventually found ourselves in a pub probably a bit too early and this set the scene for the rest of the time in Amsterdam.
That night was spent drinking in the red light area, which is a little bizarre and leaves you feeling like a naughty schoolboy as you pass ladies standing around in their underwear beckoning you to come in, I had no intention of doing so, besides I was on a budget. :)
We ended the night in a rock bar and then a crappy pop music bar where Dan and I discussed how much we liked Lady Gaga, ha ha. Well I did anyway, Dan says I am not allowed to like music no more.
The next day went along similar lines, although we had vowed not start drinking so early. We visited the Anne Frank and Van Gogh museums and then ended up boozing in the red light area. We visited the "world famous" Grasshopper Cafe, didn't smoke any of that Marajuana stuff and instead paid nearly €8 for a crappy pint of Heineken. Strangely the bars seemed to close an awful lot earlier than they had the previous night which left us wandering around looking for somewhere else to carry on and add to the already copious amounts we had already necked.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
TodaysArt, The Hague - Saturday
Saturday was a much more pleasant day than Friday which meant we spent some time testing out the local grog in the street next to the Vortex wooden pallet thing. Dan wondered why there were two containers in the street, his question was answered rather quickly as out came Nik Nowak's Panzer came crawling out playing reggae tunes out of its massive speakers. I expected this is how the performance would carry on but instead of reggae we got strange musique concrete created from noises made by the tank struggling to drive over a few bits of wood.
Dan complained that the tank wasn't big enough so we decided to go and check out the Braun Tube Jazz Band. The Braun Tube Jazz Band isn't really a band, it's a Ei Wada bloke and lots of cathode ray TVs, it starts off buy going du dudu du dud du dudu dudu dudu as Ei Wada places his hands on the screen and this kind of doesn't change but it does get faster dudududdu dudududududud dudududududududududu. It did eventually form some kind of a tune and was a clever idea but tonight were were less up for the avant garde and more up for dancing about like idiots.
We missed the main performance by Pantha Du Prince and instead found people playing extremely repetitive but very cool techno inside one of the containers. Eventually the container started to get a bit too full for my liking so we walked over the road and had a look in the Theater aan het Spui's main hall where the Anarchy Dance Theatre had just finished showing their projection mapping person tracking dance software off, the stewards wouldn't let me have a go on the stage, I suspect they didn't want no fat blokes prancing around.
Inside the foyer of the theatre was a performance by Gert-Jan Prins that went guuuuur duuuuur whiiiiiiiiir skkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk grrrrrrr guuuuuuur out the his home made instruments. Behind him there was a twitter fall projected on the wall and I tried to get some sweary words put up behind it but obviously they are not allowed and they didn't appear, or maybe they did after I'd left. I was quite enjoying the funny noises but Dan wanted to do something else so we changed venue to the clubby part of the festival.
Up next was Roll the Dice who had amazing ants attacking other stuff visuals projected onto a fine cloth in front of themselves, their music was very very droney and although it is very good it kind of sent my off into that half awake falling asleep on my feet state. It finished and Dan poked my very hard shouting "YOU NEED RED BULL".
We went off to get Red Bull. This gave me a very silly second wind and the rest of the night flew by, Einoma and Phon.o were both great but the best act of the festival for me was Ikonika who made me dance around like a idiot to her housey sound until the kicked us out of the venue.
TodaysArt is very cool, maybe I will go next year. ;)
Dan complained that the tank wasn't big enough so we decided to go and check out the Braun Tube Jazz Band. The Braun Tube Jazz Band isn't really a band, it's a Ei Wada bloke and lots of cathode ray TVs, it starts off buy going du dudu du dud du dudu dudu dudu as Ei Wada places his hands on the screen and this kind of doesn't change but it does get faster dudududdu dudududududud dudududududududududu. It did eventually form some kind of a tune and was a clever idea but tonight were were less up for the avant garde and more up for dancing about like idiots.
We missed the main performance by Pantha Du Prince and instead found people playing extremely repetitive but very cool techno inside one of the containers. Eventually the container started to get a bit too full for my liking so we walked over the road and had a look in the Theater aan het Spui's main hall where the Anarchy Dance Theatre had just finished showing their projection mapping person tracking dance software off, the stewards wouldn't let me have a go on the stage, I suspect they didn't want no fat blokes prancing around.
Inside the foyer of the theatre was a performance by Gert-Jan Prins that went guuuuur duuuuur whiiiiiiiiir skkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk grrrrrrr guuuuuuur out the his home made instruments. Behind him there was a twitter fall projected on the wall and I tried to get some sweary words put up behind it but obviously they are not allowed and they didn't appear, or maybe they did after I'd left. I was quite enjoying the funny noises but Dan wanted to do something else so we changed venue to the clubby part of the festival.
Up next was Roll the Dice who had amazing ants attacking other stuff visuals projected onto a fine cloth in front of themselves, their music was very very droney and although it is very good it kind of sent my off into that half awake falling asleep on my feet state. It finished and Dan poked my very hard shouting "YOU NEED RED BULL".
We went off to get Red Bull. This gave me a very silly second wind and the rest of the night flew by, Einoma and Phon.o were both great but the best act of the festival for me was Ikonika who made me dance around like a idiot to her housey sound until the kicked us out of the venue.
TodaysArt is very cool, maybe I will go next year. ;)
Friday, September 21, 2012
TodaysArt - Friday
TodaysArt is a great festival in The Hague, Dan and I arrived on the Friday after a heavy few days in Amsterdam and was met by a swirl of wooden debris that had been turned into a pavilion/stage area where the locals had gathered to drink cans of lager whilst listening to soundscapes and other strangeness that you don't normally expect to hear in the middle of a city centre.
After collecting our wristbands we grabbed a couple of beers only to be told that we weren't allowed to take them into the Lucent Danstheatre itself so we necked them and were all fizzed up while waiting for the first act of the evening to appear.
A short introduction to the festival was followed by a performance by Ben Frost, Daniel Bjarnson and Sinfonietta Cracovia with a soundtrack for Solaris. Whilst interesting I felt that the music stayed on a plateau and never reached a peak that I come to expect from Ben Frost, I was also a bit disappointed with the visuals provided by Brian Eno, again they never really went anywhere and were slow to change, in fact at first I couldn't tell whether they were changing or whether my eyes were playing me up.
Performance over we headed to the City Hall Atrium to see Canto Ostinato Audio Visual, very pretty electronic/harp music this but again appeared to me to be directionless, the visuals here however were much more impressive, I don't know if it was intentional or not but the lights flashing of the golden harp of Gwyneth Wyntek was quite mesmerising.
After this the alcoholic days leading up to the festival were starting to take their toll and I needed a sit down so I walked across the road to the cinema to see Same Same But Different - a series of short films exploring reality, mimicry, authenticity and originality.
I left Dan to watch a film about Iceland and walked back across the road to catch the absolutely amazing set both in terms of sound design and audio visual design from Ryoichi Kurokawa which just wasn't long enough.
After a brief look into see Bruno Spoerri making funny noises which wasn't my cup of tea, I had a couple of beers and took in the interesting selection from the The WORM No-Stars, then went to see the slightly bonkers but very very good live vampire/superadvancedhumans soundtrack by Slant Azymuth.
By now the clubby part of the festival was starting to hot up, I didn't catch his name but the kid with Shigeto playing hip hop had got the crowd warmed up and Shigeto hisself kept the party going, by the time he started bashing his drum kit I was on the wane and shortly afterwards decided to call it a night
After collecting our wristbands we grabbed a couple of beers only to be told that we weren't allowed to take them into the Lucent Danstheatre itself so we necked them and were all fizzed up while waiting for the first act of the evening to appear.
A short introduction to the festival was followed by a performance by Ben Frost, Daniel Bjarnson and Sinfonietta Cracovia with a soundtrack for Solaris. Whilst interesting I felt that the music stayed on a plateau and never reached a peak that I come to expect from Ben Frost, I was also a bit disappointed with the visuals provided by Brian Eno, again they never really went anywhere and were slow to change, in fact at first I couldn't tell whether they were changing or whether my eyes were playing me up.
Performance over we headed to the City Hall Atrium to see Canto Ostinato Audio Visual, very pretty electronic/harp music this but again appeared to me to be directionless, the visuals here however were much more impressive, I don't know if it was intentional or not but the lights flashing of the golden harp of Gwyneth Wyntek was quite mesmerising.
After this the alcoholic days leading up to the festival were starting to take their toll and I needed a sit down so I walked across the road to the cinema to see Same Same But Different - a series of short films exploring reality, mimicry, authenticity and originality.
I left Dan to watch a film about Iceland and walked back across the road to catch the absolutely amazing set both in terms of sound design and audio visual design from Ryoichi Kurokawa which just wasn't long enough.
After a brief look into see Bruno Spoerri making funny noises which wasn't my cup of tea, I had a couple of beers and took in the interesting selection from the The WORM No-Stars, then went to see the slightly bonkers but very very good live vampire/superadvancedhumans soundtrack by Slant Azymuth.
By now the clubby part of the festival was starting to hot up, I didn't catch his name but the kid with Shigeto playing hip hop had got the crowd warmed up and Shigeto hisself kept the party going, by the time he started bashing his drum kit I was on the wane and shortly afterwards decided to call it a night
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Eileen asked for her job interview what blogs people read. Here is my answer if anyone is interested:
I read a few blogs, some are local/hyperlocal things that probably aren't of interest to anyone outside of brum but most of the things I read are to do with arts, architecture, graphic design and music.
These are a few things that I read which are a lot less geeky than the one's Joe has mentioned. ;)
Art/Street Art/Architecture:
- http://400mlheroes.wordpress.com/ - Local brummy graffiti blog
- http://datenform.de/blog/ - German artist Aram Bartholl
- http://weburbanist.com - Art/Architecture blog
- http://fffff.at - F.A.T. Lab hip hop art collective
- http://fa-g.org/ - Not really a blog more a gallery of web art
- http://inkygoodness.com/blog - Illustration blog from local collective
- http://www.luzinterruptus.com - Madrid based street art activists
- http://rebelart.net - Berlin based street art blog
- http://www.woostercollective.com - the original street art blog
- http://www.thisiscolossal.com - Visual arts blog
- http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com - London-centric arts reviews
Creative Coding/Graphic Design/Programming
- http://audiovisualacademy.com/blog - Russian based VJ/Animation blog
- http://www.computerarts.co.uk/blog - Computer Arts magazine's blog
- http://www.creativeapplications.net - Creative Applications Network, digital arts and creative coding
- http://www.brainpickings.org - Graphic design/literature blog
- http://www.thecreatorsproject.com/blog - Graphic design, art and music blog
- http://www.digicult.it - Digital arts and tech magazine
Music
- http://granmostacho.com/ - Spanish electonica blog.
- http://hush-house.blogspot.co.uk - Juke/Dubstep/Hip Hop blog.
- http://www.inhabitonline.co.uk - Music, art and fashion blog
- http://www.littlewhiteearbuds.com - Dance music blog.
- http://www.triangulationblog.com - Art and music blog.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
The State I Am In.
Been quite busy the last few weeks and it's been a while since I spent the weekend in Birmingham. I started off the month heading down to London to muck in with Leon aka Chromatouch's residency at EXYZT in Southwark. That was an all round odd experience including DJing to moody French people inside a wooden washing machine in a mini club built underneath some railway arches.
Following that I had a boozy weekend in Sheffield with Tim and Gemma at the Tramlines festival. Neil picked me up on the Saturday morning and we arrived just after noon and headed out pretty much straight away to the local park with a bandstand where there were some guitary bands playing indie pop music. The beer started there and didn't finish until sometime in the early hours of Monday morning.
The weekend took me to techno studios, folk forests and Nando's new music stages, all with a beer in hand. I left at the right time as I hear that Tim went for a hair of the dog on Monday morning and left 9 or 10 pints later. That probably would have killed me off.
I won some tickets to go to Global Gathering, which I subsequently tried to flog on ebay without success so I headed there anyway. You are not allowed to take your own booze onsite and a can of beer at the bar is £4.50 which is a total rip off. We did manage to sneak some beer in which was a good job given that I was pretty much skint and hardly ate all weekend.
I can't tell you who I saw on the Friday except for Seth Troxler, not because I was off my face (unlike my brother who had to go to bed before 11pm) but because I was wandering around from tent to tent not really watching much at all. Saturday was different we saw the Japanese Popstars, Friendly Fires complete with dodgy dancing, Heidi, some live UK garage bits and bobs and then some really cheesy trance, one of the DJs was playing dodgy remixes of 90s Duran Duran songs. We finished the night drinking free lucozade at the silent disco.
Don't think I'll be buying a ticket for that festival but if anyone wants to give me a ticket I wouldn't turn it down.
In addition to going various music events I've been slowly building up the content on the shop website I have opened. There are now about 100 model kits that you can buy from me if you want to. :)
Thought I'd write some stuff down, it's been a while. Happier than I was when I was working for the Police but am utterly skint most of the time but I definitely know where I rather be. Thinking of doing another MSc but in Denmark as you don't have to pay to do it there but that is a massive change so a great deal of thought is needed before I make any decisions on that.
So that's where I am at now, this feels like one of those Christmas newsletters that twatty families send out to people who don't really care. I don't suppose anybody else is actually reading this nowadays anyhoo. ;)
Following that I had a boozy weekend in Sheffield with Tim and Gemma at the Tramlines festival. Neil picked me up on the Saturday morning and we arrived just after noon and headed out pretty much straight away to the local park with a bandstand where there were some guitary bands playing indie pop music. The beer started there and didn't finish until sometime in the early hours of Monday morning.
The weekend took me to techno studios, folk forests and Nando's new music stages, all with a beer in hand. I left at the right time as I hear that Tim went for a hair of the dog on Monday morning and left 9 or 10 pints later. That probably would have killed me off.
I won some tickets to go to Global Gathering, which I subsequently tried to flog on ebay without success so I headed there anyway. You are not allowed to take your own booze onsite and a can of beer at the bar is £4.50 which is a total rip off. We did manage to sneak some beer in which was a good job given that I was pretty much skint and hardly ate all weekend.
I can't tell you who I saw on the Friday except for Seth Troxler, not because I was off my face (unlike my brother who had to go to bed before 11pm) but because I was wandering around from tent to tent not really watching much at all. Saturday was different we saw the Japanese Popstars, Friendly Fires complete with dodgy dancing, Heidi, some live UK garage bits and bobs and then some really cheesy trance, one of the DJs was playing dodgy remixes of 90s Duran Duran songs. We finished the night drinking free lucozade at the silent disco.
Don't think I'll be buying a ticket for that festival but if anyone wants to give me a ticket I wouldn't turn it down.
In addition to going various music events I've been slowly building up the content on the shop website I have opened. There are now about 100 model kits that you can buy from me if you want to. :)
Thought I'd write some stuff down, it's been a while. Happier than I was when I was working for the Police but am utterly skint most of the time but I definitely know where I rather be. Thinking of doing another MSc but in Denmark as you don't have to pay to do it there but that is a massive change so a great deal of thought is needed before I make any decisions on that.
So that's where I am at now, this feels like one of those Christmas newsletters that twatty families send out to people who don't really care. I don't suppose anybody else is actually reading this nowadays anyhoo. ;)
Friday, July 20, 2012
Fuck It
I woke up this morning with a slightly thick head after having a few beers with Phil last night and then sitting up far too late watching stuff on TV. Got up. Pottered around in my dressing gown for a while and thought I should really be doing something. I looked at the boxes and boxes of stuff that I need to be sorting out and just said fuck it.
Went out to buy a bacon sandwich but somehow I never got one. I found my self on a bus and looking round junk shops and now I am in the Library. I guess I should head back and get stuck in.
Went out to buy a bacon sandwich but somehow I never got one. I found my self on a bus and looking round junk shops and now I am in the Library. I guess I should head back and get stuck in.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Chill Out Spacey Disco
My brother and I put on what will probably be our last chill out session at the 78 Bar, it wasn't particularly well promoted so only a few people came and those that did had brought there own booze and were getting hammered and starting to act a bit twatty. About seven we decided to knock it on the head.
We had a quick couple in the Spotted Dog which always looks closed but never is. There was some family disco or something going on in the back which we gatecrashed, shame there was no sandwiches. ;)
Then we jumped on a bus and met up with the few people that had come to the 78 Bar for a house party where I drank far too much booze. Which means today I feel absolutely shitty and could definitely do with some time away from the demon drink but that's not going to happen this week. Bearded Theory is this week.
We had a quick couple in the Spotted Dog which always looks closed but never is. There was some family disco or something going on in the back which we gatecrashed, shame there was no sandwiches. ;)
Then we jumped on a bus and met up with the few people that had come to the 78 Bar for a house party where I drank far too much booze. Which means today I feel absolutely shitty and could definitely do with some time away from the demon drink but that's not going to happen this week. Bearded Theory is this week.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Stuff.
It's been quite a busy week in Big Richard Land. After finalizing my business plan and posted it off I went to the pub and have pretty much been in there every night since. Not intentionally like it just kind of happened. I'd had a a couple of beers in the Bristol Pear on the Tuesday and saw a very silly fight that lasted about three seconds. Luckily nobody spilt my pint.
Was feeling a little bit rough on the Wednesday and wasn't really up for going for a beer but possibly because it was so hot in the Library where I was doing some work I figured what the hell I might make Gary go for a post work pint. Only a couple mind. The heavens opened and you aren't going to get up a get the bus when you are warm and have beer. So a couple turned into lots.
I had business meeting on Thursday but not thankfully until the afternoon. I met Nazar a nice guy who ran through with me all of my options for signing off and it turns out for the first 26 weeks of running a business I will be no worse off even if I make no money, which is a great help. After the meeting I go to the Library again to make a few minor changes to the plan and financial forecasts and send them off. I get a text from Paul asking if I fancy a pint.
Not seen Paul in a while, why not. We meet up at the Country Girl. Paul tells me that after coming home at a very late hour after not telling his wife where he was he had been warned that a repeat of this misdemeanour he would be spending a night asleep in the porch. Phil arrives unexpectedly about ten. We have a few beers mostly 3.8% and I'm oiled but not pissed. I never drink Stella Artois on the basis that it makes me too aggressive and gets me horribly drunk very quickly. For some reason tonight after seeing somebody with a pint of that stuff I decide I'll finish the night with a pint of Wifebeater. Phil then does his usual trick of getting more beers than are necessary at the ring of the Pavlovian Bar Bell. Naturally enough I wake the next day with a bad head.
Friday, I get a text off Joshua telling me that he won't be coming to my house in the evening so I'm at a bit of a loose end. I see that there is a free gig at the Hare and Hounds and text a few people to see if the fancy it. Joe says he might be up for it. I spend the afternoon slumped on the settee watching documentaries about Fleetwood Mac. By the time I should be going out I'm not that up for it and think should I stay in. I flip a coin and it comes up on the side of going out. As I get on the bus I get a text from Joe saying he's not coming out. Bugger, I should have stayed at home, I thinks.
Worked out alright in the end, only spent a tenner, drank a few beers, my brother arrived, the bands were quite good. Walked home via the offie and had a couple back at my house.
Bit tired the next morning but I get up and head out to meet my Dad at a book fair in Kings Norton. Don't buy any books but I do buy some nice and spicy Lamb Samosas from the farmers market outside. In the afternoon I do some clearing up in my Mom and Dad's garden. Joshua arrives after going to the cinema with his mate William. Later he decides to have an hour and a half Kevin the Teenager type sulk because I won't take him up to my sisters house. Sulk over we go to my house an watch a rubbish Sandra Bollocks film before going to bed.
Was feeling a little bit rough on the Wednesday and wasn't really up for going for a beer but possibly because it was so hot in the Library where I was doing some work I figured what the hell I might make Gary go for a post work pint. Only a couple mind. The heavens opened and you aren't going to get up a get the bus when you are warm and have beer. So a couple turned into lots.
I had business meeting on Thursday but not thankfully until the afternoon. I met Nazar a nice guy who ran through with me all of my options for signing off and it turns out for the first 26 weeks of running a business I will be no worse off even if I make no money, which is a great help. After the meeting I go to the Library again to make a few minor changes to the plan and financial forecasts and send them off. I get a text from Paul asking if I fancy a pint.
Not seen Paul in a while, why not. We meet up at the Country Girl. Paul tells me that after coming home at a very late hour after not telling his wife where he was he had been warned that a repeat of this misdemeanour he would be spending a night asleep in the porch. Phil arrives unexpectedly about ten. We have a few beers mostly 3.8% and I'm oiled but not pissed. I never drink Stella Artois on the basis that it makes me too aggressive and gets me horribly drunk very quickly. For some reason tonight after seeing somebody with a pint of that stuff I decide I'll finish the night with a pint of Wifebeater. Phil then does his usual trick of getting more beers than are necessary at the ring of the Pavlovian Bar Bell. Naturally enough I wake the next day with a bad head.
Friday, I get a text off Joshua telling me that he won't be coming to my house in the evening so I'm at a bit of a loose end. I see that there is a free gig at the Hare and Hounds and text a few people to see if the fancy it. Joe says he might be up for it. I spend the afternoon slumped on the settee watching documentaries about Fleetwood Mac. By the time I should be going out I'm not that up for it and think should I stay in. I flip a coin and it comes up on the side of going out. As I get on the bus I get a text from Joe saying he's not coming out. Bugger, I should have stayed at home, I thinks.
Worked out alright in the end, only spent a tenner, drank a few beers, my brother arrived, the bands were quite good. Walked home via the offie and had a couple back at my house.
Bit tired the next morning but I get up and head out to meet my Dad at a book fair in Kings Norton. Don't buy any books but I do buy some nice and spicy Lamb Samosas from the farmers market outside. In the afternoon I do some clearing up in my Mom and Dad's garden. Joshua arrives after going to the cinema with his mate William. Later he decides to have an hour and a half Kevin the Teenager type sulk because I won't take him up to my sisters house. Sulk over we go to my house an watch a rubbish Sandra Bollocks film before going to bed.
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
50p Return to London
I made use of the Evening Standard offer to go down to London for less money than a first class stamp. I had a leisurely morning as my train wasn't until one. I was the first on the carriage so got the pick of the tables and as usual just before the train is about to leave I get some noisy fuckers with seven mobile phones each shouting at each other and down the phone decided to plonk themselves next to me.
Luckily I had my headphones and was able to tune them out.
I arrived in London around half two and walk from Marylebone to Hyde Park so I can check out the Hans Peter Feldmann exhibition on collecting stuff at the Serpentine Gallery. It is pretty funny, the paintings of people with lazy eyes are obviously offensive and should be banned, ha ha. I then stroll down through and out the park to Tate Britain which has got an odd exhibition which juxtaposes all sorts of bits and bobs but I can see anything to tell me what it's all about, quite interesting anyway.
I get a call from Nick and we arrange to meet at Farringdon station, I start walking towards that area but start to feel a bit lazy having already walked about five miles so I jump on the tube instead. We go to a rather pleasant pub called Ye Olde Mitre which Nick tells me is part of Cambridgeshire. It's actually pretty cheap at £3.40 a pint in London and the beer quite nice too.
A few beers later and it is time to go and get my train home. I grab a bottle of Kronebourg from Sainsbury's for the way home which lasts me all the way to Coventry. I get into Brum just after eleven and get the bus home.
A very pleasant way to spend 50p and an afternoon.
Luckily I had my headphones and was able to tune them out.
I arrived in London around half two and walk from Marylebone to Hyde Park so I can check out the Hans Peter Feldmann exhibition on collecting stuff at the Serpentine Gallery. It is pretty funny, the paintings of people with lazy eyes are obviously offensive and should be banned, ha ha. I then stroll down through and out the park to Tate Britain which has got an odd exhibition which juxtaposes all sorts of bits and bobs but I can see anything to tell me what it's all about, quite interesting anyway.
I get a call from Nick and we arrange to meet at Farringdon station, I start walking towards that area but start to feel a bit lazy having already walked about five miles so I jump on the tube instead. We go to a rather pleasant pub called Ye Olde Mitre which Nick tells me is part of Cambridgeshire. It's actually pretty cheap at £3.40 a pint in London and the beer quite nice too.
A few beers later and it is time to go and get my train home. I grab a bottle of Kronebourg from Sainsbury's for the way home which lasts me all the way to Coventry. I get into Brum just after eleven and get the bus home.
A very pleasant way to spend 50p and an afternoon.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Procrastibloodynation
Today I am supposed to be finishing off my business plan and sending off to A4E in order to be able to sign off and get ths NEA grant. So far I have twittered, blogged, read the paper, sent emails and generally done everything other than finalize this 90% complete plan.
I now plan to go out in the fresh air and sort some other bits out. Argghhhhh!!!! I need to stop procrastinating.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Day Four - The Journey Home
Mostly uneventful trip home, I arrive at the bus station and am one of the first on the bus, I get chatting to a welsh bloke who had come to Paris for 24 hours and was then going out drinking with his mates in London for a few days. I did think that we might get an extra few hours in the town when the driver couldn't shut the door to the bus but there was no problem in the end.
There is a bit off faffing around going through both French customs and British customs before you can get on the ferry. Unfortunately there was a big liner that couldn't get into the port of Dover without the help of the tugs which meant that we were sat outside the port for ages.
It was utterly pissing down when we rolled off the ferry and this continued all the way up the country. I had to change in london again and was told by the driver that to leave my bag in the compartment because he was going to drive up to Birmingham. Unfortunately they changed buses and I saw my bag fly off into the night somewhere, luckily they managed to make the driver wait before the M! and I picked up the bag halfway.
I got back too late to get a bus or train home and it cost me nearly £20 in a taxi to get home.
Overall I think Paris is a great city with loads and loads to see and loads and loads of pretty ladies although not that sociable especially if you don't speak French and definitely not a place to go for a cheap boozy break (although I reckon they must have some cheap bars somewhere) The Megabus is stupidly cheap and reasonably comfortable and mostly painless. If I go again and I'm very tempted to go there for Nuit Blanche which I've fancied for a quite some time I would definitely stop off in London on the way home and stay in a hostel rather than waste £20 on a cab fare that goes four miles.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Paris Megabus Jour Trois
No annoying banging people but I do wake up to the sight of nice bottom, don't know who she was, she didn't appear to speak. I get up eat breakfast and head off into the rain to the Musee d'Orsay. The Musee d'Orsay is a very impressive building, I can't quite believe that it was a train station.
I didn't bother picking up a map of the building and wandered around aimlessly, the first gallery I entered was the post-impressionists which basically means Van Gogh. I was absolutely amazed by these paintings, I don't think I've ever seen paintings quite as intense. I kind of wish I'd seen them last because everything else kind of paled in comparison.
Not that the painting was what impressed my most in this museum, they had a collection of art-nouveau furniture, five different floors of it, Italian, French, North American, English and then on the last floor there is this amazing collection of Germanic Art Nouveau, it looks like what a Viking would have had in his house had he spent time reading instead of pillaging. ;) Also in the Musee d'Orsay was a special exhibition by an Scandinavian (another Viking) artist called Akseli Gallen-Kallela and that was very very good.
After I came out of the museum, I bought a crappy sandwich from a supermarket and caught the metro up to the top of Canal St Martin which I walked the length of, lots of what look like proper bars, street art, cafes, art shops and book shops alongside and is a very nice place to have a wander although it was very quiet. I did nearly get killed by a fire engine who was racing up the side of the canal. All over Paris I kept seeing no drinking in the street signs but on closer inspection they actually say no drinking in the streets after nine pm.
For some strange reason the town planners have decided to cover up half of the canal and put a market on top of it so once I'd reached there I decided to head back and sit in the hostel, eat food, drink beer and look at more anti-social groups and couples. I wasn't disappointed, there were some rather rude Russians who thought I was going to move so they could sit down on the table I was at because it was slightly bigger than the one they already had. Bah!
I decided to make another effort to find a bar so caught the metro down to a more central part of the town and after a bit of a wander found a Australian Bar much like the Australian Bar on Broad Street. As I entered the bouncer said something in French which I didn't understand, "Eh?", he then said in English "It's ten euros in and you get a drink with that", "Nah I wander off somewhere else" says I, "Where are you from?" looking at me a bit funny like, "England", "Oh just go on in". I walk up to the bar and ask for a beer and am given a really horrible pint of Fosters and am charged SEVEN EUROS.
I drink my pint and think "hmmm I think I'll try somewhere else", I walk around the corner and there is a strip of bars, all of them with bouncers on the door and one with out so I pick that one, inside there is a band murdering Sweet Home Alabama, it looks like table service but I go up to the bar anyway and ask for a drink, I get a pint of Kronenbourg and am charged EIGHT EUROS FIFTY!!!
Fifteen quid for two drinks and I think fuck that and head back to the hostel. The offie next door is still open so I buy a couple of bottles of Kronenbourg. Inside the hostel there are actually people talking to one another, it seems that these people have been in the hostel the whole time I was there but had been met with the same wall of silent couples and groups I had. I ended staying up drinking later than was probably sensible given the time I had to get up the next morning but it was fun all the same and quite a nice way to finish the break.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Paris Part Deux.
I wake up nice and early. Some fucking twat of a woman thinks that it's acceptable to turn on all the lights in a shared room at half past three in the morning and start running the sink, bang around, zip and unzip bags, rustle plastic bags open and close the door at alarming regularity. Stupid cow. I think to myself, I hope your plane crashes then think that's probably a bit harsh and instead hope that she shits herself on the plane. About an hour later she fucks off to wherever she is going and I drop back to sleep.
I wake up nice and early. This time it is an Australian couple who are making noise but then it is nine o;clock so I go go and get some breakfast, shit, shower and shave and wonder what it is I should do for the day. I decide on the Louvre. I have a nice stroll through the Jardins de Tuilleries and am pleasantly suprised to see there is no queue to get into the palace.
The Louvre is funny, most people are only there to see the Mona Lisa, they run past the Giottos, the Rafael frescos, the other Da Vinci paintings, the Carravaggios, the Titians, the Cimbaues, the Mantenegas and the Bellinis. They don't bother going to see any of the paintings by the Flemish masters, this part of the gallery is completely empty. No they go and look at this little painting of some bird, that could do with being restored. ;)
It's nice is the Louvre, you can go and see how the other half lived in Napoleon the Third's chambers are all as they were in his day, bit flash if you ask me. There is one part of the palace where I walked in and thought fuck me that is a bit over the top, they have a fresco of Napoleon with his generals on one side and the others (I think) of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great - shame he lost innit. :)
'm in the Louvre for about three hours before deciding that I've had enough but then I get lost trying to find my way out and end up in an underground shopping centre hell and that takes me another half hour to get out. The sun is out when I come up for air and I'm regretting wearing such a big coat. I sit down and eat the sandwiches which I made before leaving and watch pretty ladies walk by.
From where I am standing I can see pretty ladies, the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower so I head down the bank of the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. It's a pretty impressive structure although not as good as the Clifton Suspension Bridge of course. There are massive massive queues of people waiting to get into lift to get up to the top, I had no intention of going up, I'd already seen a nice view over Paris.
I walk back along the other side of the river down towards Notre Dame, I sit in the gardens and enjoy the sunshine. It is getting quite late so I head off to find food, I consider finding a bistro but instead opt for the food and beer from the supermarche selection. Back at the hostel I eat and drink a few cans ignoring the "no drinking of outside alcohol in the hostel" sign. People come and go but stick very squarely to their own groups. There are too many couples in the hostel.
I chat to a Spanish bloke for a bit who tells me that he has gone Amsterdam->Brussels->London->Paris over the last three weeks for only £12 on the Megabus. That's cheap. He is was a bit annoying though and thought he knew everything and got upset when I pointed out that he was talking a load of bollocks and was a bit of a racist nob.
I left my Spanish friend to annoy some other people and headed off to a different part of town where I was informed there was some bars. There was. They were heaving full of people in suits and incredibly expensive, so I carried on walking around and found myself outside the Moulin Rouge which is in a Las Ramblas type sleaze bucket of an area, lots of annoying people trying to get you to go and see their sex show.
I never found a bar that I liked the look of and headed back to the hostel. Walking back I did pass what looked like it would have been a cool bar had I been with a few people, loads of people spilling out onto the street drinking cans that they'd quite clearly bought from the offie next door but I was feeling a bit jaded and knackerd by this point so just wandered home.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Megabus to Paris Day One.
I got up at 3.50 amazingly having some sleep despite staying up a bit too late watching Total Recall, sorted my bag of clothes out, ate cornflakes and rang for a taxi. Was the first to arrive at the Megastop and wasn't joined by that many people, a French lad on his way home for the weekend, a bloke who was only going as far as London and some Indian girls who were off for a hen do in Amsterdam who managed to blag their way onto our bus because they were too cold (I think less skimpy clothes at four in the morning might have been more sensible) and could get the connection in London..
Off we drove to Coventry where we picked up another couple of people and then off to London. I slept most of the way down even though the coach was colder than my house and woke up somewhere around Brent Park to see that it was utterly pissing down. I don't think I have ever managed to get across London so quickly, I think most people looked outside and figured that they'd stay in bed an extra half hour which meant there was absolutely no traffic.
There was a bit of faffing around at Victoria bus station where I had to get off and show my passport to the "Megabus International Desk". It's very disorganised at this bus station there are something like twenty stops that they could use to get people on and off the bus but they only ever seem to use about three and nobody seems to think that they should move out of else's way, chaos. Eventually my bus is called and I am pleasantly surprised to see that there are only about 28 people getting on the bus which means that there's enough room to spread out and I won't have to sit next to any smelly people.
The ride down to Dover is pretty painless and I am glad of the chance to be able to stretch my legs on the ferry after been on the move for seven hours already. I eat some rather tasty fish and chips on the ferry before we leave port. I am expecting a choppy journey as the waves are smashing over the harbour wall but as we set off the weather seems to ease off and by the time we are a few miles out the sun even comes out.
Next stop Boulogne which is exactly like Lowestoft, sall seaside town, ferry terminal that is no longer used and a big fish finger factory near the sea front. It even has a Cash Converters. We change drivers here and then it is just a three hour drive down to Paris.
The ring road in Paris is a bit hair raising, it's basically one big tunnel around the city where drivers jump in and out of lanes at high speed whilst others are driving as fast as they can trying to stop them. Deathrace Paris 2012. Surviving the ring road we get to the Porte Malliot bus station and the sun is out but its pretty windy. I find the nearest Metro stop in order to go and check into my hostel.
I am quite pleased that I will be able to get up to Sacre Couer and see the sunset over the city, unfortunately the nob on reception has other ideas and fucks around with everything else for half an hour before deciding to tell me that he can't check me in because his replacement is on the way. Eventually the replacement arrives and does his job but by now it's dark.
I decide to walk up the five billion stairs to the church anyway unfortunately it is just closing up for the day so I don't get to see inside but its a nice view over Paris at night despite the annoying Algerian kids harrassing blonde teenage tourists. I was quite looking forward to a pint after my long journey so I wander down into Montmatre, its pretty quiet, there are lots of places that look like they'd be quite nice to have some food in but nowhere that looks like you could sit at the bar and have beer. There is one cafe that is much much busier than anywhere else and I can't understand why because it looks a bit naff, I subsequently discover it is the one from the film Amelie.
Eventually I find a couple of bars but everyone is sat at tables in there own groups and there are no free seats so I don't bother going into those and just head back to the hostel as I'm pretty knackered anyway.
I have an expensive beer out of the vending machine in the hostel and head off to bed.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Serendipity
Two nights in a row have ended up in drunken silliness after randomly bumping into people. Saturday I wasn't going to go out at all but Joshua wanted to stop at my sisters and I didn't fancy sitting in the house on my own so gave Joe a bell and met up at the Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath.
All set for a couple of quiet beers, we sat in the back room where there was a DJ playing dodgy Northern Soul with the high end turned up stupidly so it sounded like a dog whistle blown full blast down my ears. Not the best start to an evening we thought, after a bit of a shouty conversation Joe says he wants a ciggie and we go outside.
Back in the pub they've sorted the music out and have turned the bass up and the high end down making it less painful. I buy a couple of drinks and wince at the price, £10.35 for a pint and a rum and coke in Brum is just silly (next time I'm taking a hip flask).
Another couple of beers then another cigarette for Joey and outside we bump into Jim, Sarah and Marie who have been drinking since noon and who are all quite sozzled, especially Jim. They join us back in the pub and now the music has changed to disco edit versions Dexy's Midnight Runners songs. By now the alcohol really is flowing and the music is sillier and sillier and we a pissed and dancing on the chairs and tables.
Three(ish) in the morning we leave. So much for a quiet night. ;)
Not feeling too hungover, I spend the day clearing some stuff in my Mom and Dad's garden. I was pretty knackered after this and once I'd dropped Joshua back with Rebecca I was ready for a lazy evening on the settee.
As I was walking home I saw a very drunk Dave, Jonno and Andy walking up the road, I was considering putting my head down and walking past them on the other side of the road but "Oi, come and have some beers" and I was dragged into Andy's house and handed a can of Kronenbourg. The three of them were quite pissed and a little bit annoying and when they decided to go to the Chinese down the road I tried to make good my escape but they weren't having none of it and instead I was sent over the road to get beers from the offie.
Back at Andy's house and Karl turned up who was also pretty pissed. Neither Dave, Karl or Jonno needed to go to work the following day and were all on a mission. Dave was the first to flounder after being killed off with folk music and 6.5% ales. More beers and Andy was the next to go. It was about four in the morning and no more beer left and Jonno insisted on opening the Blossom Hill tastes like pop rose which we drank from the bottle. Jonno keeled over and I decided it was probably time to go home.
I felt very shite today. It was one of those days of lost productivity due to alcohol abuse. So I sacked myself and did not very much at all.
All set for a couple of quiet beers, we sat in the back room where there was a DJ playing dodgy Northern Soul with the high end turned up stupidly so it sounded like a dog whistle blown full blast down my ears. Not the best start to an evening we thought, after a bit of a shouty conversation Joe says he wants a ciggie and we go outside.
Back in the pub they've sorted the music out and have turned the bass up and the high end down making it less painful. I buy a couple of drinks and wince at the price, £10.35 for a pint and a rum and coke in Brum is just silly (next time I'm taking a hip flask).
Another couple of beers then another cigarette for Joey and outside we bump into Jim, Sarah and Marie who have been drinking since noon and who are all quite sozzled, especially Jim. They join us back in the pub and now the music has changed to disco edit versions Dexy's Midnight Runners songs. By now the alcohol really is flowing and the music is sillier and sillier and we a pissed and dancing on the chairs and tables.
Three(ish) in the morning we leave. So much for a quiet night. ;)
Not feeling too hungover, I spend the day clearing some stuff in my Mom and Dad's garden. I was pretty knackered after this and once I'd dropped Joshua back with Rebecca I was ready for a lazy evening on the settee.
As I was walking home I saw a very drunk Dave, Jonno and Andy walking up the road, I was considering putting my head down and walking past them on the other side of the road but "Oi, come and have some beers" and I was dragged into Andy's house and handed a can of Kronenbourg. The three of them were quite pissed and a little bit annoying and when they decided to go to the Chinese down the road I tried to make good my escape but they weren't having none of it and instead I was sent over the road to get beers from the offie.
Back at Andy's house and Karl turned up who was also pretty pissed. Neither Dave, Karl or Jonno needed to go to work the following day and were all on a mission. Dave was the first to flounder after being killed off with folk music and 6.5% ales. More beers and Andy was the next to go. It was about four in the morning and no more beer left and Jonno insisted on opening the Blossom Hill tastes like pop rose which we drank from the bottle. Jonno keeled over and I decided it was probably time to go home.
I felt very shite today. It was one of those days of lost productivity due to alcohol abuse. So I sacked myself and did not very much at all.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Friday
I think I have just about recovered...
First port of call for me after eating some Spaghetti on Toast for breakfast was the Flatpack Palais or the room at the back of the reception area in the Custard Factory for some...er...interesting...films. Mostly abstract stuff funny shapes on the screen and wierdo soundscape music which I quite like but after an hour or so they get a bit samey. There was short documentary film about Urban Explorers who came across as being quite annoying.
I wandered over to the other side of town popping into Cafe Costes along the way to see the nostalgia fest of films about the old Bull Ring, I still think it was better than cathedral of bland like what we have got now. Four o'clock is when the staff of West Midlands Police ICT Services run out of the office making a bee line for the Shakespeare. I meet up with Gary, Paul, Rebecca and Grumpy Liz and have a few beers. About six o'clock they've all left to do other stuff apart from Gaz who is hinting that he wants to stay out but only if I bully him into doing so that he can blame me when he gets moaned at by his missus for arriving home pissed as a fart at three, four or later. I however am not playing that game today.
Gary heads off home and I go to Tesco and buy a four pack of Tesco's premium lager for £2.24 then walk down to Digbeth for Art. Art at Grand Union is normally quite interesting but its quite a small venue and there's not all that much of it, today was no exception, there was some work on the surveillance culture we have now. Art at the Eastside Projects is generally bollocks and tonight was no disappointment, they had a pavilion structure and in the middle was a group of people eating a Chinese meal while everyone else stood on the top of the pavilion watching them. The performative piece is called After Dinner Shu Fa at Cricket Pavilion, apparently the structure is going to be moved to a cricket ground in Coniston. They also had a video in the other part of the gallery which was of the river that goes underneath Digbeth. Like I said bollocks.
I had a quick pint in the Crown whilst waiting for a few persons to turn up at Vivid for the Bring Your Own Beamer night. I enjoyed this quite a lot, there were twenty one artists covering every part of the walls with projected pieces of artwork, some of it was obviously knocked up in a few minutes but that didn't matter because as a whole it looked great. There was music from one of the members of the Higher Intelligence Agency and it fit very nicely.
This is the point where I should have probably caught a bus home.
After the BYOB night there was a showing of esoteric films at The Edge, lots of wierdness, not that I saw much of the films as I seemed to spend most of the evening standing outside talking to smokers Leon, Sarah and Jim, Marie, Sandra and Nerys. I was quite drunk by this point but people kept buying me cans of Red Stripe.
The films finished at half three and I was dragged kicking and screaming - I did try to make good my escape but was unsuccessful, if only I'd had a bicycle like Leon - to Subside by Nerys who was looking for more booze which she certainly didn't need, we got there and she passed out so I woke her up with the help of one of the bouncers and put her in a taxi home. At this pint my brother arrived for somewhere and I made him buy me a pint. Another couple of drinks later and it was light and the first, second, third and forth buses had already gone. Time to go home.
What time do bloody newsagents open, I wanted some milk but everywhere was shut at seven?
First port of call for me after eating some Spaghetti on Toast for breakfast was the Flatpack Palais or the room at the back of the reception area in the Custard Factory for some...er...interesting...films. Mostly abstract stuff funny shapes on the screen and wierdo soundscape music which I quite like but after an hour or so they get a bit samey. There was short documentary film about Urban Explorers who came across as being quite annoying.
I wandered over to the other side of town popping into Cafe Costes along the way to see the nostalgia fest of films about the old Bull Ring, I still think it was better than cathedral of bland like what we have got now. Four o'clock is when the staff of West Midlands Police ICT Services run out of the office making a bee line for the Shakespeare. I meet up with Gary, Paul, Rebecca and Grumpy Liz and have a few beers. About six o'clock they've all left to do other stuff apart from Gaz who is hinting that he wants to stay out but only if I bully him into doing so that he can blame me when he gets moaned at by his missus for arriving home pissed as a fart at three, four or later. I however am not playing that game today.
Gary heads off home and I go to Tesco and buy a four pack of Tesco's premium lager for £2.24 then walk down to Digbeth for Art. Art at Grand Union is normally quite interesting but its quite a small venue and there's not all that much of it, today was no exception, there was some work on the surveillance culture we have now. Art at the Eastside Projects is generally bollocks and tonight was no disappointment, they had a pavilion structure and in the middle was a group of people eating a Chinese meal while everyone else stood on the top of the pavilion watching them. The performative piece is called After Dinner Shu Fa at Cricket Pavilion, apparently the structure is going to be moved to a cricket ground in Coniston. They also had a video in the other part of the gallery which was of the river that goes underneath Digbeth. Like I said bollocks.
I had a quick pint in the Crown whilst waiting for a few persons to turn up at Vivid for the Bring Your Own Beamer night. I enjoyed this quite a lot, there were twenty one artists covering every part of the walls with projected pieces of artwork, some of it was obviously knocked up in a few minutes but that didn't matter because as a whole it looked great. There was music from one of the members of the Higher Intelligence Agency and it fit very nicely.
This is the point where I should have probably caught a bus home.
After the BYOB night there was a showing of esoteric films at The Edge, lots of wierdness, not that I saw much of the films as I seemed to spend most of the evening standing outside talking to smokers Leon, Sarah and Jim, Marie, Sandra and Nerys. I was quite drunk by this point but people kept buying me cans of Red Stripe.
The films finished at half three and I was dragged kicking and screaming - I did try to make good my escape but was unsuccessful, if only I'd had a bicycle like Leon - to Subside by Nerys who was looking for more booze which she certainly didn't need, we got there and she passed out so I woke her up with the help of one of the bouncers and put her in a taxi home. At this pint my brother arrived for somewhere and I made him buy me a pint. Another couple of drinks later and it was light and the first, second, third and forth buses had already gone. Time to go home.
What time do bloody newsagents open, I wanted some milk but everywhere was shut at seven?
Friday, March 16, 2012
Flatpack Fursday
Quite an interesting day, went to Urban Coffee but it was too busy to sit down and watch the films about Birmingham so I popped around the corner to Cafe Costes where they were showing a film about kids messing around in the school holidays which was so so, then a great film about a really shitty bar in New York, this is a follow on to that film about some of the more salubrious customers:
After this I headed around the corner to the Birmingham and Midland Institute to see the Charles Dickens silent movies, which I rather enjoyed, the lavish production (for its time) of Nicholas Nickleby I think was the best. There was of course the obligatory Scrooge:
Popping over the road into the BIAD who were showing some arty bollocks, not very impressive, I did see a Rachel Riley look-a-like which more than made up for the pretentious rubbish. Then I went to the Joint Stock to watch the funny films they were showing, this was my favourite:
I didn't buy any beer in the pub because it cost me £4.10 for a Carlsberg the last time I went there which is an utter rip off. Anyway I left half way through the funny films to grab a bite to eat, I was starving. Satiated, I head down to the Mailbox to catch the very noisy Mothwasp who I have written about in these pages before, they were OK, I had a couple of cans and ran into a lad who knows me but I don't know him, which is odd. After this I met Phil in the White Horse and drank a few too many pints of Budvar. I did intend on walking home but it started to rain and I though fuck it and flagged down a black cab, glad I did, I hit my bed and dropped off straight away.
I'm just about to go out for round two, if anyone fancies meeting me in town tonight, give us a bell.
After this I headed around the corner to the Birmingham and Midland Institute to see the Charles Dickens silent movies, which I rather enjoyed, the lavish production (for its time) of Nicholas Nickleby I think was the best. There was of course the obligatory Scrooge:
Popping over the road into the BIAD who were showing some arty bollocks, not very impressive, I did see a Rachel Riley look-a-like which more than made up for the pretentious rubbish. Then I went to the Joint Stock to watch the funny films they were showing, this was my favourite:
I didn't buy any beer in the pub because it cost me £4.10 for a Carlsberg the last time I went there which is an utter rip off. Anyway I left half way through the funny films to grab a bite to eat, I was starving. Satiated, I head down to the Mailbox to catch the very noisy Mothwasp who I have written about in these pages before, they were OK, I had a couple of cans and ran into a lad who knows me but I don't know him, which is odd. After this I met Phil in the White Horse and drank a few too many pints of Budvar. I did intend on walking home but it started to rain and I though fuck it and flagged down a black cab, glad I did, I hit my bed and dropped off straight away.
I'm just about to go out for round two, if anyone fancies meeting me in town tonight, give us a bell.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Android
Giving up on Windows phone developing for now today I have installed Eclipse and the Android SDK which has obviously taken most of the afternoon only for the emulator to run like an absolute dog, I am yet to see a running application. Just installed a much earlier version of the SDK in the hope that I have enough memory to run that...the last option will be to see if I can run it on Linux.
Beer
Beer. Yesterday afternoon I met up with Phil for a beer in the Lamp Tavern in Digbeth and expected to be heading off home round about nine to be back for my well required beauty sleep. But it didn't really go like that, drank at the rate of about a pint an hour unlike Phil who was on about seven and a half an hour and is now complaining of a hangover. Joe turned up. Dave was there. The Destroyers were in the back room making a video promo and were all getting quite drunk during the waiting around period.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Windows Mobile Phone Development
Before Christmas Nick very kindly gave me a windows mobile phone so that I could take part in the Alphalabs.cc art and code development competition. I spent a while trying to come up with ideas that would be suitable for this venture and this week decided that I should get cracking and start coding something and prepared to rush headlong into some serious development. I hooked up my laptop to the Interweb for the first time in months and months and downloaded the free visual studio tool, no problems, I ran the installer only to be told that I needed to update Vista to SP2, ah bugger.
I checked the version of Windows I was running to realise that SP1 hadn’t been installed nor had the updates required so that I could even do that. Hmmm. Three hours later I’m in a position to install SP1, another three hours, great. I give up for the day/night and decide to continue the next day. The following day, I get through the thirty or so updates required and a surprisingly quick SP2 install in only four or five hours. Then comes the Visual Studio install which is fairly painless and I think right, great, I be able to do some coding tomorrow.
Think again big boy, my laptop not being top of the range doesn’t have a dedicated GPU therefore I can run the Windows Phone Emulator to print Hello World! out on the screen. Grrr.
This morning I have installed Zune, registered my phone as a dev phone and tried again but oh no to be able to test things on an actual phone I have to give Microsoft £65 a year. Now if I had a laptop which actually met the spec that they require for VS for Mobile Devving I might be tempted but as it doesn’t I know if things don’t work after I’ve paid out then MS support people are going to tell me to get lost and pay for a better computer oikboy. Bah!
Why can’t windows phones be command line based?
$> phone
$> connect 08237838343
$> say “Alright mate how is fings hanging”
…
$> disconnect
$> exit
Ha.
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