Month: February 2003

I realised something tonight which in hindsight was very obvious. The Polyphonic Spree are a novelty act. Don’t get me wrong, their album The Beginning Stages Of is ace and they were at times awesome tonight but at the end of the day there isn’t really much to them.
Starting at the start I was happy to find that Hope of the States was the first support act. They did well for Starsailor last week and after seeing them again I would drop some money on a cd. So they kicked off and did 30 minutes. Next up was a band that I didn’t catch the name of but they were certainly not bad. I’ll check up on the name and post some more later.

Then it was time for the Spree, before hand a group of people came out and threw 30 or so robes into the audience and it began. Frank Skinner came out to introduce the band. Lovely comment about how he loved the album lots…except track 10. This got quite a cheer from the audience. Out came the spree, all 25 of them. Straight into Have a Day and then on through Hanging Around 1 & 2 mixed right into an intro to Solidier Girl and on to La La and then Light and Day. That was awesome. The crowd were behind them 150%. The floor was just jumping, it was an amazing sight and wonderful to be in. At this stage I was going home to book a ticket to see them at their next gig over here in a few months.

But think about it, as soon as they have done that, its over. Those are the album tracks gone, out of the window. We are left only with new stuff and b-sides. That kinda killed off the crowd participation a lot if not completely. The new stuff was pretty much the same as the current stuff, light fluffy bouncy tunes without much to them. This went on for another 30 minutes or so and then they took a quick break and showed their appearance tonight on Graham Norton. Then back on stage for a few cover versions (only one of real note was Bowie’s Five Years and an impressive ending with a lot of noise behind it.

So did I enjoy myself? Hell yes, they were certainly worth seeing, excellent live versions of the good songs (although disappointingly a not so great live Solider Girl). I wonder if I shall in fact pick up their next album. I think they may have captured something magical on this one and it will be lightning in a bottle. I hope they prove me wrong, I won’t rule out going to see them again, but I’m not going to go off and book a ticket now.

I stand behind everything I have said about them over the past few weeks, the album is still well worth getting and I am very glad I saw them. They remain however, a novelty act.

The post arrived this morning. There was a letter addressed only to Dave B. Our postman figured I was the only Dave B and brought it to me. I am very glad he did. It’s a 3 track, 15 minute live cd from JJ72 that I signed up for a long time ago. It’s not got any of their best stuff on it, but it has got some good tracks sung live. It did remind me that their new single is out which I would have picked up anyway but that it also includes a cover of The Wicked Game which is an excellent track.

This was a good way to start the day, and indeed the week.

In 1998 I went to London with some friends. It was my first time away from home on my own. It was over a July weekend and we were there for a sci-fi Convention. The con was to be my first in London, it would not be my last. It was Wolf 359: The Alliance. At the time duty free was still available in the UK and there was about 10 of us travelling from Dublin. It is safe to see that we used our duty free allowance. I had some vodka and some rum I believe. We were in quite a posh hotel in Heathrow where the convention was on. The Friday night we got quite drunk. Let me tell you how drunk. We all got into one room to do the drinking (as you do) and we did just that. I have a few memories of that night. I remember one person’s first experience with tequila. I remember drinking an entire bottle of vodka and I think I had an entire bottle of rum. I also had some of that tequila.

I remember us running down the corridors late at night very drunk with a bottle of tequila knocking on lots of doors. I remember we slowed to a walk as we saw the con organiser walking towards us and walked past him with a chorus of ‘Hi Bryan’. The morning after he would comment that one thing he really liked about us was that we were polite drunks. As soon as he was gone we of course continued with the running. Among other things which occurred that night was so much ringing of room doorbells and prank calls that the power was taken out on one floor. I do remember that despite being blamed for much of this, I made no prank calls and knocked on no doors that night. There was also a fire alarm which I also take no responsibility for. I did not set it off.

So there we were running down corridors swigging tequila. Well, give or take a couple of very vague flashes my next memory getting off a plane in Dublin airport three days later. I have a few very rough memories and I didn’t for quite a while. They only came back to me talking to someone about this a while ago. Anything else I just have to shrug at.

It was an awesome weekend.

—
I’m now reading A Clockwork Orange. The nedstat speak is getting to me and slowing my reading down a lot. It’s only 140 pages and 90 minutes total on the bus today should have gotten me through at least 100 of that. It was more like 40, but I guess I wasn’t trying all that hard.

Instant live CDs of a concert?
About time. I would have paid for something like this for many concerts I have been to.

Just been to see Final Destination 2. While not fried comedy gold, it was certainly comedy gold with a really funny ending. I laughed a lot.

Power Laws, Weblogs, and Inequality

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Last night I saw Punch-Drunk Love. It was most definatly a P.T. Anderson movie and anyone going in expecting an Adam Sandler comedy was very disapointed. I have no idea what I thought of it, I am hard pressed to even decide if I liked it. It was at times a chore to watch and the film did seem pointless, that might however be the point. I don’t think I would watch it again, but I’m glad I saw it.

Heading out to the cinema again in a few minutes. Will make some changes here later tonight.

I have this great need to watch The Prisoner again. I have a busy week ahead, but perhaps I can squeeze some viewing in.

Apparently I’ve been a little weird lately. More so than usual. Or so I have just been told, but despite questioning I’ve not been told how so. I wonder if this is true, I certainly don’t think I can flat out dispute it, but I am curious to know in what way.
I wonder if this is subconsciously connected or indeed a conscious connection to some um … decisions or conclusions that I’ve come to recently.

I’m going to think about that and go watch Angel.

45 minutes later.
Well, that was cliched with some characters acting way out of themselves and a happy ending…and then boom. Even had I not known it was coming I don’t think I would have fallen for it, it was too fluffy and too easy. Roll on the next ep and the full Angelus.

So I wonder if specific things which have been bothering me and/or taking up a lot of my thinking shine through so much? I wonder how much of it can be traced back to thoughts about the inner person or indeed inner child.

Hmm I’m going to think about that and go watch Buffy.

45 minutes later.
Not a great episode overall, but had some really great moments. Some great acting from Adam Busch and a nice closure to the character of Warren. A good job from Aly Hannigan and indeed the writers for the Willow stuff. It actually worked pretty well.

Now that I think I’ve annoyed someone a little now at the least I am gonna go sleep. I was going to post a list of ten things going on but very cryptically. I guess I shall just leave it as; yes, Mary you were right about one important thing we talked about recently.

Last night. Well, lets start at the start. A rare offer of some beers came in from Shug ( ;p ) and we hit the pub for a couple of drinks. There was a big do on in a hotel up the road that some of the others were going to and the plan was to have some beers in the pub and move on to the bash. So, did just that. Met up with some people, went for a quick bit of food and then hit the hotel. Had missed Iain by quite a bit because we had spent too long in the pub but hooked up with the others ok.

Well, then it got interesting and jumps right back to the last post. The bash was a work thing…kinda whereby lots of people who do some stuff for us were all brought together. So there was about 5 people in the room who I knew and the rest were complete strangers. I didn’t do very well, the beer had not helped. Luckily enough I didn’t manage to offend anyone, but at one stage I think it was close. Some more beer and getting into the group containing three people I knew helped, but it was not great. Yes, I did meet some nice people, but I spent a while being completely lost and not able to leave for fear of being rude. It was not good.

Hence there is no way I’m going back for more tonight. I am considering a cinema visit. It can be summed by the following, P.T.Anderson, writer/director of Magnolia has a new movie out and I want to see it. Perhaps a walk to the Warner cinema in Fulham via that lovely pizza place at Earls Court I love. That sounds very very appealing, but having just checked with MapQuest (FQP), they are in fact nowhere near to each other. Perhaps just a hot dog and my local cinema.

I have some Buffy, Angel and 24 to watch aswell. I’m also thinking that I need to go out and get food soon and perhaps follow this with some sitting in Starbucks reading

It was a pretty shit week in work and I am very glad it is Saturday. Its not going to get any better straight away and that could cause even more problems. Nevertheless on Monday I’m going to see the Polyphonic Spree and on Wednesday I’m going to see Sigur Ros. I am eagerly anticipating both.

In other news, the kitchen is starting to all come together and will hopefully not take much longer and DareDevil starts next week. I know some people who have seen it over the past few days and the general consensus is that they did allright. Seen as these opinions are coming from comic book understanding people I am quite glad to hear it.

Hunter S. Thompson is inteviewed over at Salon. Anyone can now get into Salon Premium by watching a 15 second ad. I like this. It’s a good interview and you can read it here. Side note I’m almost finished the Laura Hamilton’s and I am eager to get cracking on Fear and Loathing ’72. Anyway back to the interview and touching on a topic I’ve read stuff from him about before, he says that the truth is ‘weired than any fiction’. I don’t think I can say I would out and out agree with him but I can appreciate the sentiment. Another thing he says about the truth kinda brings me nicely into a topic which has been on my mind for the day and will reverberate with a short recent posting; ‘Telling the truth is the easiest way; it saves a lot of time’

The V is of course made up of geniuses. It’s an accepted fact. There was a new thread yesterday in an attempt to balance this whereby you would declare three subjects in which you thought it would be good to know more about or have skill in which you were basically crap at, or had no knowledge.
This got me thinking and I entered my three:
– I cannot speak Irish fluently.
– I have very poor communication skills
– I have very little non proprietary technical know-how

The second one there was kinda replaced by something Jason listed. It’s word for word but I did localise the spelling, I just had to but it applies very much to me: “I’m utterly lost when needing to mix/socialise with a group of strangers. So very, very lost.”

The replies in the thread by others got me thinking about stuff too, so here is a longer list of things I am basically crap at.
– financial planning (also known as budgeting). I’m shit at it, it never works out.
– My handwriting is illegible.
– I am largely ignorant about politics anywhere in the world (past or present)
– I have less musical ability than a plank of wood. Well, that’s not quite true; I can play piano and the tin whistle and the flute. I have not in many many years and doubt I have any of it left. I use to be able to read very very basic sheet music. Now it all looks like gibberish. Put me in front of a piano for a few minutes I can probably play the theme tune from Indiana Jones but that’s it.
– Releated to this, I don’t know anything about the art of music. I don’t understand the stuff behind the songs or even in the songs. I don’t know if I really want to. Also I don’t know enough music, I can never know enough music.
– I know nothing about art. I know what I like when I see it, but that’s about it.
– Ditto for Architecture
– I cannot draw a straight line to save my life.
– I cannot cook to save my life.
– I do know my left from my right, but I have to think about it.
– My grammar is appalling.
– I dislike all vegetables
– I cannot sew or anything along those lines.
– Design skills. As you can see, I have none.
– I cannot drive. Although I intend to change this and the sooner the better.
– I find it almost impossible to ask for help and I hate doing it. For work stuff if it is something I know I can do or figure out I won’t ask till I have to. This can be fun for me around deadline times, but I prefer to just fucking do it and know I did it. For other stuff I just hate having to do it and will often delay what can be inevitable.
– I’ll put down that I’m shit at talking to girls I like, seen as that’s a given for the hetro guys posting in the thread.
– My willpower appears to have completely faded away
– I don’t always (often) think things fully through.
– I am often very reluctant to try new things. New food being notable in this category.
– Sometimes I just don’t know when to stop.
– I’m not exactly full of confidence. Sometimes I am but I have to be 100% sure I know what I’m doing (which I rarely am) or pretty sure I have a way to get whatever it is done.
– I never ever know what to say when someone passes away. Anything that runs through my head sounds so lame and insincere that I just can’t say it. Fuck, I hate the fact I had to just add this to the list.

And yes I’m sure you can add more to this list, thank you very much. It is not a comprehensive list and it of course leaves off the stuff I don’t want to admit to you or indeed to myself.
– – –
On whole other notes, I lost a game of chess today that should have been locked up by a very silly mistake. I won the later game leaving the score this week so far being 5 1/2 to me and 2 1/2 to Dave. I’m enjoying this a hell of a lot. I have some nice code stolen from Iain to add to the site at some stage.

This is so very pointless and a waste of time and money and effort but at the same time so very cool and inspiring and awesome:
The first notes in the longest and slowest piece of music in history, designed to go on for 639 years, are being played on a German church organ on Wednesday. The three notes, which will last for a year-and-a-half, are just the start of the piece, called As Slow As Possible.
First notes for 639-year composition.

And now as I’ve just ended up nice and depressed I am going to bed.

Quickly:

– V Pool good.
– Elbow Room bad.
– Skipping lunch having not had breakfast and then drinking beer for the night = bad.
– I am really shit at pool.
– Work is not fun at the moment.
– Iain is off this week not well, so no chance for lunch 🙁
– I’m tired, I need to be getting more sleep.
– I came to a conclusion the other night which I really don’t like. Somebody said something to me and it clicked.

Bah stalemates suck. That game was mine to win…or loose in this case.

Fuck.

Colin Powell’s opening line to the UN Security Council: “Security Council, I have this bundle of receipts here…”

Well not it wasn’t really, but it would have done (stolen from Tony on The V)