UK Watercooler: Miracle On 34th Street

Yes, Virginia, there is a Higgs Boson...

New board, new thread. As you were.

Whoa, that's nice! It checks to see if there's any similarly titled threads on the system! (Brought up a bunch of Street threads, but not a single Watercooler thread, though.)

Was it down the back of the sofa?

Morning all, isn't this new and exciting.

I keep coming up with all kinds of "whoa, what does THAT do" buttons.

I didn't realise how much I liked getting in at 10 until I had to come in at 9.30 again. Ugh. How can that extra half hour make all the difference?

Morning!

Morning, how's things in Dr. G00blar land?

• London is grey
• I'm still unemployed
• But I've been playing tennis
• So things are alright

How are you?

*like my job
*have no band
*but have booked art show
*so generally, things are pretty OK
*and will get even better once I get paid

Ha ha, I like this bullet pointing thing.

• dammit, that didn't work!

• but that did
• feel less stupid now

Any luck with immigration?

My E. had to get her passport back from the consulate in the end. $400+ for zero result. Came to immigration at london armed with bank statements, her dissertation proposal, wedding invites etc. They have given her 6 months.

• have booked art show, where and awesome?

• thread soundtrack:

immigration situation is hopeful (though maybe that's self-deception). I've got to apply for this post-study worker thing (which, yes, I can apply for, it turns out) when I go to the states in a week and a half, and if I get it will be cool for two years.

• Dulwich Dream Machine
• October
• Opening/aaaahhhhrt paaaaahhhrty supposed to be 4th
• but may be delayed to the Saturday after as cannot get band I wanted to play that night

immigration situation is hopeful (though maybe that's self-deception). I've got to apply for this post-study worker thing (which, yes, I can apply for, it turns out) when I go to the states in a week and a half, and if I get it will be cool for two years.

― Doghouse O RLY (G00blar), Thursday, 11 September 2008 10:41 (20 seconds ago) Bookmark

top tips

• the processing time refered to on the consulate website only refers to the processing time not to the amount of time your application will sit in a mail sack
• New haven is a good place to get your biometrics done quickly
• use an expediter
• don't book your flights home until you have a visa-*
• air india is very cheap at the moment, like less than $800 return cheap although JFK not newark which is less good for you I think.

Argh, that weekend is already the weekend of multiple bookings.

Also can I remphasise the importance of October 18th for beer and steam trains

Yeah flight back to LDN is already booked which I realize may be a mistake; if I have to wait longer I have to wait longer.

ps I haven't seen any processing times yet tho I may be an idiot

Good luck with immigration situation!

Argh argh argh, I hate YouTube. Or rather, I hate how my crappy home connection mangles YouTube. It took me over an hour to watch about half a dozen two minute clips from the upcoming Horizon BRIAN COX: TIME MAYAN 2012 special because my connection is so slow. :-(

That said, the programme does look really really interesting from the clips. (Though they are going to have to edit out the sweary bits obviously.)

Wait, which weekend, the 4th or the weekend after? It's an art show, it will be up all month. But the party will have FREE BEER and LIVE MUSIC. From people who I've done art for. WHIch reminds me to round up Cowboy Jim.

they maybe only on some pages, they may have taken them off because clearly they are all lies.

The weekend of the 4th, which is a shame as I like both free beer and live music, I will definitely be able to see it at some point.

It will probably not going be the 4th, as I cannot get the band I want to play. I'm thinking it's far more likely to be the 11th.

Call me a traditionalist - I picked the "old ILX2 style" stylesheet...

Well that is a whole different kettle of whatsits.

A whole new kettle of ballgames?

• need to do some work
• lots of work
• but first some coffee!

Hello there. Did someone mention steam trains?

(I'm still about-to-be-unemployed myself - another job interview next week though)

Hi all! New Ilx is all very well but I'm sticking to the old stylesheet, I've got no concept of reform at all.

Steam trains and BEER!

REFORM REFORM YOU ARE TAKING APART WHAT WE MADE WITH OUR HANDS AND OUR HEARTS!!!

I am amusing myself while my queries run by mad theories on the interweb. I just found one that reckons EARTHQUAKES are caused by GAMMA RAYS from the STARS. Even when the Gamma Ray Bursts happen AFTER the earthquakes. Because the chances of these things happening separately are 5000 to 1 that means that it couldn't have happened randomly! Somebody clearly needs to go back to probability school. In a galaxy with 500 BILLION stars in it that means it's quite probable indeed.

Steam trains *where* though???

The link was... uh, on the old board. Which I've deleted the address of. Ooops.

the Real Ale Train on October 18th on the Watercress line.

Call me a traditionalist - I picked the "old ILX2 style" stylesheet...

me too

me three

I've changed all the colours of all the boards on New Board Answers though. Because I embrace change! All is flux!

New Grails album is teh awesome. Album of the year maybe. Check it out everyone.

We just had a fire drill. Must say that the collected employees of this organisation have the best display of spectacles of anywhere I've ever worked.

They didn't go to Specsavers then?

Ta Ed. Whether I can make it to the Watercress Line depends on a) my bank balance and job status by then b) whether or not that's one of the weekends we have friends coming to visit or not.

I've not bothered changing any colours. I know that on this computer I can't permanently change my stylesheet (cos cookies get deleted automatically on shutdown), and I haven't bothered yet trying to see if the colour-settings are stored the same way.

My favourite style was always the new ILX2 one with the pink boxes at the top of the page.

Now the shop ain't answering my emails about changing the opening date. I'm beginning to entirely lose my nerve about the whole thing and am thinking of just cancelling. :-(

NO DON'T!

I know.

I've done this before. I got offered a show in NYC, just randomly because some gallery owner saw a poster I'd done and came to the show just to find the artist. And I totally wimped out in the end and wouldn't do it.

So I'm not not NOT going to get cold feet this time. I just feel a bit... underwhelmed right now. If that's a word. And no it's not coz I looked it up.

hehe

Morning. I'm feeling pretty crap today.

A few weeks back I applied for a job. The recruiter was highly enthusiastic, as the ones who bother to reply to applications usually are. I got a phone interview, and the recruiter was highly enthusiastic and told me that they were very very impressed. I got a second interview, and the recruiter assured me that this was a very good sign, only 10% of candidates got this far, etc etc.

The interview seemed to go well. The interviewer was a very friendly chap. He closed the interview with the words "I'll get feedback for you tomorrow, and hopefully I'll speak to you soon."

Three days later, my recruiter phoned up: sorry, they're not interested, because the second interviewer felt that I didn't have the experience they were looking for.

And now, they've re-advertised the job, through the same recruiter. Grrr. Should I email the recruiter and say "I'll work for less money!" or is that just one step too demeaning?

I sympathise wildly FP but if they can't bring themselves to hire you it's almost certainly not an issue of money.

No, I don't think so. They seem to do this kind of thing all the time. You can email your recruiter and remind them that you are still available. (They often don't even look at the people they've got on the books when they get in new roles.) But the decision to readvertise the job has come from the client, not the recruiter. Keep looking! I know it's hard not to get discouraged when you have been interviewing and getting rejected over and over. The best thing to do to keep from getting discouraged is work on your skillset and review stuff you know but haven't used in a while, so you come off as sharp in future interviews. Good luck!

It is very definitely autumn. The boys keep getting cuter and cuter in their autumn sweaters. I lost my heart coming out of the tube station, and then he followed me down the street, oh tall pointy nosed floppy auburn haired boy with startling blue eyes and ginger eyebrows, oh can I have my heart back, not that I need it, but it would be polite?

It's just all a bit depressing, you know. I am unemployable.

You sound like me 2 months ago. Look at me now. Wasting work time on the internets like a pro.

You said you were unloveable until you found a girlfriend, too.

Life is subject to continual change.

xpost

lol speaking as somebody who borderline is, you'll be alright dude.

I guess you have a point there Kate. Thanks Noodle!

It is depressing. I totally feel your pain. But you have to just keep picking yourself up and applying again. (It is, believe it or not, a good sign that you are getting to second interviews in the first place!)

Now what on earth am I going to do about the coming hormonal rush for the next few months? I go insane with lust this time every year. How can I stop it from f*cking up my life?

Money's an interesting thing in these situation, the job I do now was advertised before at a much lower salary and surprise surprise they didn't get anyone they wanted to hire. I came in and demanded above the top end of their range and in some strange way I think that reassured them that I wasn't bullshitting about my skills. Although I'm not suggesting you go back and demand more money I think it would lead the recruiter to think that you aren't all you're cracked up to be. Just have to write that off and move on to the next opportunity.

morning all btw. It appears my sister has left her bf for good and is now a loose cannon.

Again?

Or could she really not face Switzerland?

That makes me think of two opposing magnets: however much you try to force it to face towards Magnetic Switzerland, it will just swing round the other way.

Or, if CERN goes wrong, proton-eating magnetic monopoles!

(Sorry, my dad has got in on the CERN fun-poking.)

Perhaps I should just not leave the house for the next 2 months. That way boys will be safe from my lechery. But that could make working a bit difficult.

I think a bit of both really, xpost.

I feel quite smug about my middle aged out of touchness. I don't own a single album on that 2008 best of list over on ILM.

My lovely book about Madame Curie just took a massive downer and stopped being all FUN FUN RADIOACTIVE FUN and everything went all doom and gloom. :-(

Hahaha the only album on that list I've heard is Bonnie Prince B but I don't think it's a catalogue of in-touchness.

Kate, if you aren't shuttering yourself away for the sake of the menfolk of Great Britain, fancy some folk at the betsey next wednesday?

Kontakte are playing at Goonite next Wednesday! Can we have beers there instead, or is there something at the Betsy you wanted to see?

(I will get the German to whack me upside the head with her handbag if I so much as look at a menfolk - though, knowing her, she will try to encourage me to pounce on the unfortunate menfolk at the dronerock show.)

I've heard two of the albums on that list, and another two of them are on my to-buy list. But that comes across as a damn strange list, I think.

(the ILM one, not my to- ... no, actually, that does apply to both)

I doubt that I have any on that list.

Will check it now...

This past year is the year that I finally gave up on the urge to be UP TO DATE on music. Not that I have been up to date for some time, but I still thought that it was somehow bad or remiss of me not to be at least aware. Now I no longer care, I feel a lot better.

(Also I have finally got rid of that awful f**tb*ll mouse that came attached to my computer. Though my new mouse is rather plasticky and unsolid, I do not like it.)

Right:

I have the Portishead album.

I got a version of the MGMT album, liked the first few tracks, but attention wandered off halfway through.

Would like the Vampire Weekend one, when it's cheap. (I love "A Punk", the other tracks haven't been anywhere as earcatching but maybe I have to listen more)

That's it.

I am in favour of this plan.

Goonite can be fairly torturous when I'm feeling hormonal, though, as it's usually full of super-hott Brazillian dronerock boys. Rowr.

NO ROWR!!! BEHAVEMENT!!!

I plan to listen to the Vampire Weekend one following house move and resulting CD-collection-merging.

I need to get Raisin' McCain by John Rich out of my head.

I have nothing in my head but the ringing of my colleague's phone.

But I can smell hot chocolate and now I wants some.

Sounds sensible. I've had "Far Far Away" by Ooberman stuck in my head for the last three days, whatever else I listen to.

(xpost)

Wow, this is the longest query ever. I decided to import my dataset into excel as the query was so complex it took forever to run it, let alone work with the data - but now it's taking years to get it into excel! Bah!

I hate this database. It is set up in the most stupid and annoying and frustrating way possible for report writing.

I am crotchety and cranky and want cuet boys and chocolates STAT and I'm not even menstrual. (Cuet boys dipped in chocolate would be best of all but one can't have everything.)

And new boots. I want new boots. Square toed engineers boots perhaps. WHEN WILL I GET PAID because then I can at least source new boots and chocolates even if money cannot buy cuet boys.

And new corduroy trousers. Brown ones. Where oh where is a stylish fatty shop where I can get nice brown corduroy trousers in my size? Maybe I should take this to ILS.

http://www.bootbarn.com/details/product_images/Q__Product_Images_Pictures_Frye_2008_77400-Gau_DSC_0082.gif

or maybe even

http://www.bikersden.com/public/ProductImages/1624/Thumbnail.jpg

I've been given a wild goose chase for the afternoon. That might be entertaining since there's no one here. :-(

Less entertaining in the absense of geese.

There is a goose! I even have some idea of what its wild enviroment is. I just don't know where in that environment it is - and if indeed I have the correct permissions to get to the bit where the goose resides.

I'm a reasonable man, get off my case, get off my case. It's worrying when they're playing Radiohead in the sandwich shop. Strange version I'd never heard before with xylophone remix.

How can RH get away with using xylophones and glockenspiels and not be considered twee?

OH NO!!!!

I thought I got a slice of carrot cake, and it turns out on closer examination to be BANANA CAKE. I'm not sure about this. I like bananas but tend not to like banana flavoured things.

Ew. That doesn't sounds good. I'm told that Nigella Lawson's courgette cake recipe (with lime curd between the layers) is rather good, though.

It was OK. It just tasted vaguely of cake.

I believe that I've found the goose.

I've also found the Yellow Card.

Whoops, I just banned myself by accident! Ha ha ha!

Was it a particularly wild goose when you found it? Bitey?

It looks like I've got myself another job interview - fingers crossed once more.

Nope, I hadn't actually found the goose. I had just found the area where the goose might be. I know there IS a goose, at least!

(Ha ha, my boss and I just had a long conversation about goose hunting which had the rest of room looking at us like we were insane.)

Good luck with job interview!

Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! We've all just been looking at our new Logo. It's hideous! It looks like a cross between Sputnik and an inkblot. What was wrong with the old Lion design?

Not as good as this lion design:

http://www.v36.info/minilok/stirling/Lion%20on%20Wheel%20kl.jpg

True, but our lions are still pretty great...

http://okby.co.uk/paulstevensarchitecture/images/riba_logo.jpg

Honestly, when you see what they want to replace it with, you will cry.

Watched "American Beauty" last night. We did go and see in das kino, back in the day, but I'd forgotten how damn depressing it was. When the bloke (SPOILER! Actually, no you all know this it's the first scene, which gets returned to at the end to explain what happened, anyway here comes the close bracket) gets killed, it's virtually the most cheerful scene in the film.

Robotic-looking lions!

Art Deco ARKITEKTUR lionz.

I know I've seen American Beauty but cannot remember a thing about it.

I watched "This Is England" last night - now THAT is a depressing movie.

They used to be more, well, lionlike:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/archive/arts/images/riba.gif

I dunno, the lad wins out by dint of having intelligence, in the end.

In the end. After someone gets killed. It's depressing that he goes along with it for so long.

Oh, it's depressing in so many ways.

I feel quite smug about my middle aged out of touchness. I don't own a single album on that 2008 best of list over on ILM.

Portishead album is fantastic and Paavoharju is really good (i voted for that but im familiar with the previous alums so its not like its a new band to me, so its a bit strange if it is getting any *hype*)

Isn't This Is England the Shane Meadows film set in Grimsby? I really must watch it some time so I can go on about how none of the locations look like Grimsby at all, why didn't they send a location crew, pah, grumble.

(on the other hand, if you watch Atonement, the beaches of Northern France are actually, erm, Cleethorpes. And if you look carefully at some of the production skills, you can see the Cleethorpes beach ferris wheel lurking in the background).

It was filmed half in Grimsby and half in Nottingham. Whatever it was, it looked grim indeed. It was mostly a good film, I thought (despite lazy bad MTV editing montage bits) but grim.

Aah, in that case I will have to watch it so I can say "ooh, I know where that is!" all the time. The period it's set in, our family had just moved off a grotty housing estate (just off Boulevard Avenue, locals) and out to a new-build in a nearby village; but I do remember seeing Combat 18-inspired graffiti round town in that sort of period.

(I think Boulevard Avenue is a great street name. Tautology ahoy!)

That's even better than Avenue Road.

OWWWWWWWW I've just cut my little finger on some wire strippers, and dripped blood half-way down the corridor to the first-aid box. Hurts like hell!

There's a good railway junction name in North London - "Junction Road Junction". The railway junction was, obviously, named after Junction Road, which got its name from a canal junction. It's between Gospel Oak and Upper Holloway, I think.

For Tom D (and Ailsa and Onimo if they still read/post here)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7612211.stm

I HAVE FOUND THE GOOSE!!!

However, attempting to run the goose has caused my system to go into a seeming irretrievable lock.

It's gone into shock at being goosed.

Well, at least I know what it is.

I'm shocked! I asked, on a totally long shot, if one of my favourite bands - who I knew are touring Europe around the same time - if they fancied playing at my art opening. They actually have a date free in the right week!

They won't actually fit in the shop - there's about 8 of them - but how cool would that be?

Ah, Im drunk. I should go to bed before I cause some trouble.

Oh well. I am an idiot. I'll never talk to anyone on the internets ever again. :-(

I finally got around to watching Master and Commander. Oh, I had forgotten the hottness of James D'Arcy. He is in, like, every period costume drama, ever.

http://www.scificool.com/images/2008/05/james-darcy.jpg

I am just gonna leave this here for me to find in the morning and give me a smile...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/2775177439_ee652a2ccd.jpg

Yes, I am smiling. Aw.

Still smiling.

Mark H says is going to be in London on Thursday... does anyone fancy pinting with us?

And also, on another subject, I may finally be learning the subtle arts of diplomacy. And dealing with scene politics. I think?

Do you fancy doing it upstairs at the besty with gentle folking?

I do not mean to speak for Mark, but he is usually down with good music. It's not near where we were talking about, but there's always busses.

Which end of town were you thinking of?

Actually, he says anywhere is fine. We could get dinner at La Porchetta and go to the Betsy. I think this is a plan coming together.

Ah. Now I remember why I couldn't run this report on Friday. It crashed my computer every time I tried. Great.

What did everyone else get up to at the weekend? I finally got paid and bought new boots. (Though not of sex.) and went to Tooting to eat Taste Bombs (though I could find no kaftans to fit me, bah!)

Errands on saturday, saw Dr G00blar in the evening to impart immigration wisdom, bike ride on sunday in the rather lovely sunshine. Cooked tasties from our new organic veg box, knitted half the back of another baby sweater.

The sunshine is lovely, isn't it?

I should have gone for a walk in it on Sunday but got caught up in stupid spacerock scene politics.

I love autumn.

OK, now even touching this DB causes my machine to crash. ARGH.

Everyone in the office has disappeared except for us 3 contractors. Was it something we said? Eeep!

check round your ankles, if they are wet then they probably made a dash for the lifeboats without telling you that you are sinking.

No, that was the last job...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1434/876123832_607db34118.jpg

Apparently they have all gone to talk about budgets for next year. I think. More excuse to waste the time I am spending compacting and repairing this bloody broken DB searching on the interweb for pointy nosed ginger prog drummers (that are not Ginger Baker befoer Kerr starts posting pictures of him.)

Ok, cool. It's back, so I'm back. How long has it been back?

and it looks all funky and multicoloured and stuff. I bet it can do things the old one couldn't too, can't it?

Hello and welcome back! yes, it does all sorts of strange things. Be careful, though, digging about in the new options I managed to yellowcard myself by mistake.

Today is one of those rare unbelievably boring days that will not end.

not helped by the fact that no one is in the office, and the few people that are, are more interested in talking about the collapse of Lehrman Bros than working.

But still... hello! I will be Kate's crush for the forseeable future:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1323/1449912203_51c2b5d7dc.jpg

OK, so everyone has finally forever gone and deserted the Watercooler for Idiot Thread Repository?

I guess that's that, then. No point in hanging around here talking to myself.

Time to get off the internet and go make busywork for myself until hometime. :-(

Afternoon

It appears Rick Wright has died.

Blog view is back:

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/BlogViewControllerServlet?boardid=0

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7613403.stm

argh, argh, the worst thing ever! I stopped by HMV to pick up some CDs and there was a HORRIBLE MAN shouting at everyone. Up on this stage at the end of the shop, with everyone held back behind these barricades so we couldn't go shopping. I've never heard anything so awful in my life. Shouty sweary bloke who kept thinking he was big and clever because he was yelling FUCK in a horrid brummie accent and shouting at people to dance. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE UGH, NEVER DARKEN MY EARS AGAIN.

I've just bought two new CDs and neither of them will play in iTunes. :-(((((((

Morning there. Last day in this job today.

Morning, all, congrats FP.

BAh to non-iTunes CDs will they mount on the computer or do they not get that far?

Dickish things I've done, #534018939:

K: What's the plan today? I'm going to read through and take notes on two more chapters of my thesis, call my brother, clean a bit, and go out for a brisk walk, though that is a lot, and I probably won't get it all done. What's your plan? What are you doing today? Are you going to the library?
Me: My plan is to drink this coffee.

Hurrah for surviving the notice period, FP, good on you for sticking it out.

No, they wouldn't even mount, they kept just being spat out. But then, weirdly, I got off the internet, and both of them played just fine. I think it just doesn't like it if the first time I try to play a CD is when I'm online because it goes to try and grab the info off Gracenote and that locks up iTunes and makes it freak out, which makes it spit the CD out.

If I'm not online, and put the CD in the first time, it plays fine from them on. And if I log onto the interweb after I put it in, it will then go and get gracenote names.

So freaking weird. I don't get it.

I have figured out that the Horrible Man was The Streets. Ugh ugh ugh, worst band ever. But hurrah for cheap Britney CDs. :-D

Aaah, Goobs, reason number 98786329576236 that I have never married.

But after the big meeting yesterday, people have suddenly remembered that I work here (and I think that it must have been announced that I have taken over MI) because I've had about 15 information requests.

I have that song about the bears stuck in my head.

Maybe job will become permanent?

No! I was starting to really look forward to having a great whack of time off early next year!

Time off vs having a not too horrible job at a place that does something you can appreciate and not having to search again?

True.

OK, I should get back to work now.

I'd always go for the "not having to search" option, given my current job-hunting experiences.

I am just reading the Health and Safety manual here and there is a section headed Pregnancy - Risk Assessment.

Today I have officially started to hate this job.

You know these wild goose chases I've been on? I've been asked by users to recreate reports that the woman who was made redundant used to run. I cannot find the database that they were run on. Both myself and my colleage have looked for the queries/filters/reports that generate them, and we cannot find them.

I've gone back to the users and said, OK, I cannot find this thing - can you tell me what you need, and I'll duplicate it? In some cases, I can do this. In most cases, the person asking for the info is new themselves, and they do not KNOW where it came from, they just know this woman used to run it.

So I cannot back engineer them. I have no documentation. I ask the head boss about this, and he keeps saying "ask your colleague". My colleague keeps referring me back to the same database which don't hold the required information. My boss keeps telling me to go back to users who don't have a clue what they're asking me for. Then he tells me, very patronisingly to "calm down" when I am trying to explain the problem because he keeps telling me to do things I have ALREADY TRIED.

I'm frustrated as hell right now and have officially started to hate this place.

After a while at this job, I started to predict the retarded things that my boss would say: "have you tried?". Things that clearly wouldn't have a hope in hell of working, I did, because I needed to be able to say to him "no, I tried that," when he suggested it.

Then again, at least if I said I'd tried it, he wouldn't suggest doing it again. Unlike, evidently, some people.

Well, I've just had a meeting where I was scared I was gonna get sacked and my boss was scared I was gonna quit.

But no, he says he understands my frustrations blah blah, but says I've got to figure out a better/less brusque way of dealing with said frustration.

note to self: play better with others.

Sigh.

Morning All. I can't wait to resign from this place.

I can imagine.

I'm not loving my job this week. In fact, I'm really depressed about the whole concept of having to do this for the rest of my life. Except I DON'T. The nice thing about contracting is it comes to an end. But then you have to go somewhere else, which could be better, could be a lot, lot, LOT worse.

I'm just having that kind of... emotional vertigo about the pointlessness of it all.

...and what idiot has gone in and put in all those ridiculous board descriptions on ILX? :-(

Oh, I just have to accept that I'm in a bad mood today and stay off the internet. Or post pointy-nosed ginger sea captains/synthprog dummers STAT.

Something to cheer you up. The Gimlet, half and half lime cordial and gin over ice, very tasty.

Ooh, I have the ingredients for that... at home. But I am at work and cannot program drunked.

I got a 60s copy of the Savoy cocktail book and have been mining it for tasty recipes.

It is cold again so I am back on the whisky and ginger.

Best I can do for now...

Sweaty and cowbelled.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3275/2820757361_78a0c4b481.jpg

Stop feeding the troll. Stop bashing your head against ideologues. Stay off discussions of fashion because you have no right to care about your appearance. Bad day. :-(

Fixed database code that I thought was broken. Remains broken. "Item not found in collection." GO AWAY.

Morning. Thought I'd just pop in to say hello, before I disconnect the PC ready for the house move.

Hello, I hope it all goes well and you reappear in sunny bristol.

Sunny Bristol? Where's that? I'm moving to the English Bristol myself.

Hello and good luck with the move, sunny or not!

Good luck FP!

Thank you, Kate and Kerr! And thank you to Ed too, despite my snarky comment. I still have a hell of a lot of packing to do - the move itself is tomorrow. And then I have two job interviews right off, on Friday and Monday.

Make sure to pack good interview clothes near the top of your suitcase, then!

Also teabags, kettle and mugs.

Good luck, FP! Bristol seems a nice place, based on nothing more than driving through it to get to the airport every so often and knowing it has a good music scene.

I like to think of myself as being from the southwest even though nobody would agree (hey, my home town/village, terrible dump that it is, was briefly capital of Wessex, apparently; that must count for something).

Kate how was the Benjamin-less album?

Important things to know about britol: you must call everyone 'My luvver'

Gert is a useful adjective

Ass is gepping.

Ass is gepping.

Ed, have you been hitting the gimlets already? ;-)

Ass is gepping? I don't know what that's about, but I think we need to discuss this. Urgently.

I haven't listned to the album, Kerr. I didn't have my BigStick with me yesterday so I wasn't able to take it home. So I carried on listning to my Current Embarrassing Musical Crush.

Sunny Bristol? Where's that? I'm moving to the English Bristol myself.

OTM. Bristol is the rainiest place I've lived.

Waht is gepping?

I live near one Gurt Caxil (or Great Coxwell as stuffy orthographers and anyone new to the area in the past 75 years* call it) so I assume I can cope with that one, but perhaps I am mistaken.

(* this includes me and pretty much everyone I've ever met, but still, perhaps I will affect this pronunciation next time anyone stops me for directions, which is about, oh, never)

Please to be posting pictures of these gepping asses. STAT!

(Actually, don't - I'm at work. Just linkify some gepping asses.)

http://topratings.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/donkey-pulling-cart.jpg

any of you guys using google chrome yet? I like it. although annoyingly it is refusing to install on my new computer which has vista. It installed in seconds on my old machine, which ran xp.

"Capital of Wessex" does include little villages like Athelney, a tiny hamlet near Taunton which was an important stronghold, back in the 9th century - you can tell from the name, roughly meaning "royal island".

I'm still here, cos I'm waiting for an email about Friday's job interview. I can't go offline until I find out *where* exactly Friday's job interview is...

(incidentally, driving to the airport takes you almost within sight of my flat - definitely within sight of it from some of the signposted routes)

it's incredible how Lulsgate has grown since I was living in Bristol. When I was there, there was only one international flight per week. To Dusseldorf. On Wednesdays.

That sounds like the bustling hub that is Humberside International (between Grimsby and Scunthorpe).

Bristol Airport's in a bit of an awkward place if you ask me - the only way to get there is through the middle of Bedminster.

DUSSELDORF!!!

Argh, my favourite tai cult food AYCE has been a victim of its own success. I barely got a table in there today. Actually, I got given two tables, but both times, someone else came in after me and tried to muscle in on it. The first I gave up, because it was a big table and there were six of them, but the second I got really cross at! Especially as the woman had just seated me there KNOWING I'd just been dislodged from my previous table while up at the serving table.

Grrrrrrr.

I love that place. Even Emsk thinks it is num and she doesn't even like tai cult food. There's something (might be the broccoli and bok choi?) which is pickled in ginger and every now and then I get a bite of gingery goodness and it is the best thing ever.

Buh, when I wanted a flight to Dusseldorf last year I couldn't get one from Bristol, had to go from Heathrow. Maybe it's still only Wednesdays...

Having to go through the centre and then wind through Bedminster is a bit of a pain, but I don't mind as long as it takes me past this roadsign.

(Don't suppose you know what the yellow turreted building at the top of a scarp overlooking the motorway between Ikea and Parkway is? That's the other thing I always wonder about on the way past)

I found out what its name is the other day! Someone (who knew its name) posted a pic of it on the Bristol Flickr Group. It's called the Dower House, and it seems to have been converted into flats nowadays. So you can pay a premium for a lovely view of the motorway, no doubt.

I love that road sign - I can never resist making a joke along the lines of "Sllew? Where's Sllew?"

Awesome! Dower House is indeed the one. Thanks! There's even a pic of the obelisk in front of it on flickr too; I'd wondered what that was, as it's just about visible from the road.

Do I dare run the Evil Report That Crashes My Computer Every Time in the hopes that I've actually fixed the coding errors in it?

Well, it's got further than it got before... all the little green boxes in teh progress bar got ticked... and now nothing. :-(

What was the name of that thread for people in their thirties?

This is a thread for ILXors in their 30's!!! yo yo yo breakdancing etc...

At what point do I assume it's got caught in some infinite programming loop and just give up and ctrl-alt-delete out of it?

thank you!

It's a bad sign when I start getting involved in pointless arguments defending things I don't actually care about by recourse things I don't actually believe in. It's only boredom and frustration, really. Like 99% of ILX, I guess.

Hey Norman Terrorizer has a 2 part special on folk-metal that may or may not interest you.

Aw, jeez. Accepted a ride home from K-band thinking that it would be quicker, as they are sarf Londoners and only live 10 minutes away from me.

Pulled out of the club parking lot, got hit by an unlicensed drunk driver on a motorcycle (going really fast with no headlamps up Holloway Rd) and have just spent the last 2 hours giving statements to police.

I didn't realise how shaken up I was because I was trying to keep my friend D calm, until I've got home and can't stop shaking and feel like I'm going to throw up. :-(

wow. traumatic! everyone ok?

Yeah, everyone's OK, it was just very very scary.

Gladd all are OK, sucky end to a great night Kontacte were awesome although I forgot to buy a single. (Less sure about the band who set fire to things but other acts were good too)

wow, glad everyone is ok!

Info on the Loop reissues: taken from www.heavensend.org

September 13, 2008. Loop reissues delayed
The album were due for releases on October 8th, but now have been delayed to problems with the artwork. They will now be released on November 17th.

Full Track Listings for HeavenÕs End and Fade Out re-issues

HEAVEN'S END
CD1
Soundhead
Straight To Your Heart
Forever
Heaven's End

Too Real To Feel
Fix To Fall
Head On
Carry Me

CD2
Rocket USA
Soundhead (1st Mix)
Head On (1st Mix)
Peel Session 1
Soundhead
Straight To Your Heart
Rocket USA

FADE OUT
CD1

Black Sun
This Is Where You End
Fever Knife
Torched

Fade Out
Pulse
A Vision Stain
Got To Get It Over

CD2
Black Sun (Feedback)
Torched (1st Mix)
Got To Get It Over (1st Mix)
This Is Where You End (House In The Woods Demo Mix no. 7)

Peel Session 2
Pulse
This Is Where You End
Collision

Fade Out Guitar Loops (House In The Woods Recording June 88)
I
II
III
IV
V

REACTOR present the long out of print albums by Loop remastered from the original analogue sources. These two releases will be released on the same day, scheduled October 08 release. They will be housed in a Mini Vinyl style card sleeve, which reproduce the original artwork which has been slightly modified to fit the gatefold format and including inner bags for both discs. All due care has been taken to release everything that is available to us in some chronological order, sadly a couple of tapes have been too badly damaged or lost to make a complete edition, but these will be the definitive editions...there won't be any 'special editions' to rip you off with, that's a promise. As for vinyl, it is planned to do a limited run of 180g pressings, but these will only be repros of the original lps without the bonus material. The bonus material will only be available on the Compact Disc issues and not for digital downloads, mainly because of the costs of having to pay ungodly rates on the Peel Sessions. So, the Compact Disc issues will be unique in their own right.

Guys, I'm going to have bow out of tonight, because I'm just too shattered. Haven't slept much this afternoon and still feeling wonky. I've just spoken to Mark and told him - he says he's probably heading back to Oxford. But we need to do rolling country walking again SOOOON while the weather is still good!

Indeed, let me see if we can combine one with the beer and steam trains.

Hi kids! Missed you guys last weekend when I was in London. I went down to Hastings and walked part of the South Saxon Way. How's life?

Pretty good, myself, back off to norway again on sunday.

I want to share this. NOBODY EXPECTS CIRCULUS

http://a37.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/62/l_fad3948a3914fb940a8582833e402204.jpg

Um. They've been spending WAY too much time with Chrome Hoof, haven't they?

Is that Will hiding in the middle? can't be, he's smiling. (I know he plays with them occasionally.)

Hey, Mitya! Wish you'd let us know you were around, we could have FAPped.

hey Mitya!

Another shot to cheer me up at work tomorrow morning...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3007/2825341708_5a52318f08.jpg

Yeah, I wanted to get in touch with ILX was down :(

Who is the girly drummer?

He's not girly! Also, D just told me "he's ginger and he looks like he should be nicking hubcaps!"

No one understands my taste in men. Bah! :-D

Damn, don't you have MySpace? You have my email, I know you do!

(That said, my record for FAPping is rather bad right now, the spirit is willing, but the body says "leave me alone, I've just been a car accident, I don't want to leave the house.")

Right, going back to work today.

Me too. No web access, so y'all have a nice day, see youse, um, Monday morn...

Morning all, happy friday.

My bruises came up today. I have a nice crop of them.

To be honest, I don't really know what I'm doing today. I'm still totally dazed and I have forgotten all my acronyms. CPD? What the heck is CPD? I need a RIBA Acronym Decoder.

haha awesome

http://i36.tinypic.com/2m85g2h.jpg

Cicrulus should do a double-header with the MEADS OF ASPHODEL:

http://static.metal-archives.com/images/3/2/3/5/3235_photo.jpg

Circulus, even.

^I want to hear them and yes they should, although I would fear for the safety of the cuddly circulus folk.

Yellow Cards are the new ASBO, i.e. mark of pride for those who get them, and have lost all effectiveness at actually curbing ILXantisocial behaviour. :-(

I kinda miss having one, though.

Also, a random DDB just popped in the office and wandered about. Apparently he used to work here. Um, why did I work here then? Wow.

Kate I requested mine. You can give yourself your own I think as you're a mod on your own board.

I know! As I found out the hard way! But they have kind of lost their meaning recently.

Well give yourself your own witty one. "The Accountant Of Taste (Masonic Boom) Has Been Yellow Carded For Lusting After Pointy Nosed Dirty Dronerock Boys" or something.

Arrrr, me hearties! Why have none of ye raised the call that it's INTERNATIONAL SPEAK LIKE A PIRATE DAY again?

I was momentarily distracted by turkish delight.

Which board are you a mod of?

mmmmm turkish delight

IDME.

I had forgotten that that board even existed until I wandered in there by accident when LBZC were using it as the "let's slag off everyone on ILX" board.

(You know... wouldn't it be kind of a smart, that if you're going to slag people off, not to do it on a board that one of the people you're slagging is the trigger-happy moderator of?)

But anyway. Um, yeah. Sub-board mods can yellow-card people through the whole site. Who knew?

A really boring day at work, and ILX is being really uninteresting. Does the world need one more argument about what indie is? I suppose it could be worse, it could be more hipster threads.

I've been watching videos of my shameful crush on YouTube but there's never any good pics of the drummer. Dammit. Except one dude on Flickr who has a lot of good shots - but it turns out he's a relation of one of the dudes in the band, ha ha.

They're better than the pox shoegazer thread!

It's That Time: What are the top 10 Shoegaze songs of all time?

I did see that thread, but it looked so mind-numblingly... UGH. I hate POX lists, I really don't see the point of them.

Also, if I have one more discussion about what is or isn't Genre X I'm gonna hurl. Everybody in the world has their own definition of What Constitutes Genre X so it's pointless.

...plus, I've been spending all day doing this data request for this dude who ISN'T EVEN HERE. I just sent an email asking for clarification on what he wants, and got on Out Of Office reply.

Seriously, what am *I* even doing here?

NOW THE COFFEEMAKER IS BROKEN AGAIN. KILL KILL KILL.

I just did my first animation since... oh god, in about 10 years now, or however long it's been since I was working at the ad agency.

The technology has really come on, but I somehow find it a lot more confusing to use these days than in the old primitive days. Let's see if it works...

http://hotlink.myspacecdn.com/images01/102/e1130c5bc936fe06f612466be7e494a3/m.gif

ohhh that's good!

Thanks!

It's really hypnotic, I've got to stop looking at it.

But now I know how to do it, I can animate ANYTHING!!!!

My stuff is gonna get a hell of a lot more psychedelic from now on...

that's pretty good but you should have MOVEMENT too but that is just one dude's opinion

It would be scary if his EYES moved!

Hah kate how about animating him flopping his hair about?

Hey! It's the first animation I've done since before you were born, Jon!

I'd love to get more movement, try and make his hair move - or have him playing drums if I felt really adventurous. But for a first go, I'm quite happy with it. The main thing was getting the colours down.

yeah it looks very good.

I'm turning 27 this month!

Oh my GOD. Way to make me feel REALLY old, dude. ;-)

I'm saying nowt.

Beware the Black Fox!
http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/sep2008/6/8/798357C8-9201-C02A-4CDF0D7659BD6B35.jpg

Oh! Is that what they look like when they're alive! (not dead and stuffed and draped around a Shimura's neck.)

I AM GOING TO DO SOME WORK TODAY!!! I AM NOT GOING TO SPEND THE DAY IN BED READING THE PAPER AND DOING CODEWORD PUZZLES!!! I HAVE THIS BLOODY TOUR POSTER TO DO!!! I THOUGHT I HAD WEEKS AND I JUST REALISED THAT THE TOUR STARTS NEXT TUESDAY. ARRRRRGHHHH.

HOW DO I SHOT A3 COLOUR PRINTING REALLY REALLY FAST AND NOT HUGELY EXPENSIVE?!??!?

Kinko's, will be A, but not B

Damn. I can't charge more than £5 a poster, and don't want my entire profit (if any coz I always end up giving away half the posters for free) eaten up. -(

Anyway, here is the poster... (yeah, I know, the gigs should have been in the form of a periodic table, but that would have been too illegible and they wanna use this for web promotion.)

Toying with doing an animation where the Radium blows up, or she goes all X-ray or something...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3278/2873260063_066e84baf6_o.jpg

(Yeah, I know, the real Madame Curie would never have worn clothes that bright but hey, also, Radiation is not actually paisley either.)

Well, SUPPOSEDLY, I have found a place in Southend that will do 50 A3 posters for £40 - overnight.

Delivery extra, but that's bloody cheap...

Added: Sunday, 21 September, 2008, 21:27 GMT 22:27 UK

I have never voted Conservative and never will but I don't like Gordon Brown - don't ask me why! The other day I came up with a slogan that encapsulates how I and, probably many others feel:

GORDON BROWN?
FLUSH HIM DOWN!

Tom D, St Leonards on Sea

Recommended by 2 people

Morning all, from dreary Drammen.

If you're bored, talk about AAAAHS!

OK, we are now so totally NaSoAlMo-ing. (OR NaShimAlMo-ing as the case may be.)

Wasabi peas = god's gift to food. I want another pot. About 3 more pots of them. NUM!

This is good news, both wasabi peas and NaSoAlMo.

Now the problem will be rounding up ex-Shimuras and getting them in the same country. In November.

I am, so far, only due to be away during the first week of november.

Well, if you end up in Scandivaia, you can try and round Ampy into remote recording.

Not schandahoovia then, although I like the idea, switzerland and italy.

::bounce::

Ah, no one reads IMM, so I'll post this here...

I'm trying to find the picture of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers playing a gig using an amplified mattress and unintentionally irradiating the audience...

Did this really happen, or have I conflated this with some Hawkwind documentary?

I hope that is true, but I don't really mind if it was the FFFB or Hawkwind doing it.

Perhaps you should turn MILF Run into a comic and have them do it?

No, it did happen. In fact I'm almost positive it was in a FFFB comic.

They irradiated the audience with the amplified bedspring, and SLAYED the whole audience, and ran away because they were scared of getting busted, but actually every record company in the world was looking for them, to try and sign them.

However, I think either this was based on, or I have conflated it with, Hawkwind stories about the mad electronic frequencies that were used, trying to make stoned hippies in the audience fall over.

I don't know that I have the patience to write a proper comic any more, but we always said that Shimuras should have been a sitcom intead of a band.

That talk about running the bassline through a dying crab - you just made me think of death by bedspring audio.

and ran away because they were scared of getting busted

In every FFFB comic ever.

And Kate, I would definitely buy a book of your drawings.
Signed,
A Fan.

True! That's what made it funny!

Bedspring RADAR:

http://www.smecc.org/mcmahon's_radars!.htm

But still no bedspring musical instrument.

x-post aw thanks. I am getting a run of posters done this week REMINDER TO SELF - DO NOT SPEND ALL OF TONIGHT MUCKING ABOUT ON I LOVE TMI, DO THE POSTER PROOFS AND GET THEM OFF TO THE PRINTER.

I have had to switch back and forth between CASE WHEN THEN statements and IF THEN ELSE statements and IIF statements 3 times in the past hour in three different programs and my head is spinning and I can't remember mine own name.

That was in a Furry Freak Brothers comic for sure, I forget which one though. I had them all, but I haven't read them in years.

Wow, they're making a freak bros film, and amazingly enough, it looks great:

I'm, uh... scared/doubtful ?

Like, is it animated, liveaction, CGI, what?

Looks to be CGI Wallace and grommet style claymation, which suits it quite nicely.

Dammit, it is nearly lunchtime and I want to look at that semi-nekkid painted boys picture, but it is on ILTMI and I'm too scared to go on that board during work hours, *especially* looking for images. I'm going to have to just sit here and imagine it.

Still trying to make up my mind of FFFB movie is the most brilliant idea ever, or something of which I am very, very scared. I suppose it depends on how it's handled. Like, keep the wackiness but not totally Booshify it. I don't know which I fear more, it becoming like an unfunny Cheech and Chong sketch, or just being reduced to stupid gross-out humour.

Who is making it?

I'd be doubtful about a FFB film as well, but the clip, it looks "right" somehow. As Ed says, it's claymation. The cat is spot on, it's done just right. I wasn't expecting to be impressed, but I was.

the problem I guess is, I haven't read any of the comics since I was a teenager, and though I remember them as being utterly hysterically funny at the time, I'm kinda scared to look for them again for fear of ruining what was a special childhood memory.

(I mean, the Beano really turned out to be not that great on actual rediscovery, which was a terrible disappointment.)

Hi, just popped in to a hotel with web access.

OK, cheers...

I haven't read them in over 10 years, similarly I'm a bit scared to because they really were the funniest thing ever back then.

Shelton's "Philbert Desanex' 10,000th Dream" would make a cracking claymation film.

Hi, Mark! :;waves::

Ah, he's probably gone by now.

OOp! Just saw yez.

Yeah, hve to go in a bit.

One of those weeks where there's nothing to do in the evening, was going to sort out the family video collection (from babies to 10 and 8 year olds..), including Amber's Bob Dylan doing "Rudolph", insert the first DVD, then realise I haven't finalised the disc and cannot read it.

So, I trawl through all the music vids I've downloaded over the past year and not watched, I find a "BoDogg" music competition for 'Punk'/Metal bands (lots of rap/rock crossover), with Johnny Rotten doing the Simon Cowell part! Of course, as it was the final programme, it was all big positives from the judging panel (JR, some girl called Gail Naked, or somerthing similar, and Billy Duffy), and the bands were um, dull mostly.

Still, vaguely diverting. I got the DVD of "I'm not there" for tonight.

Laters, youwall...

man, there is FREE FOOD in the kitchen. I wish someone had told me that before I went out and got pret.

I got sent home with a RIBA cafe doggy bag last night, to have for supper. Life = good. Gigs every night for a week now.

Tonight - Kontakte. Tomorrow & Saturdy - Asteroid No. 4/Quarter After. Friday - Dirty Sweet/Boot City launch party. Exhaustion ahead!

I'm seriously considering going to Bristol in October to see erm, that band playing their amplified bedstand thing. Heh. Talk me out of this idea, please.

Today is going to be boring, isn't it? I better find some work then.

I still haven't fixed my bloody formula.

But! I did manage to swap a disused scanner for a bowling trophy!

My office = awesome.

The "sandbox" is the only bit that gets through Websense here!

Can't even get at my normal mail!

How awful! Stupid websense!

But! I did manage to swap a disused scanner for a bowling trophy!

huh?

There was a disused scanner on my desk that I had never used, and didn't know the story of. Someone came over and asked if they could use it. (Someone else explained that it used to belong to the art director dude, but when he moved desks he didn't have space for it.) I said they could take the scanner, but they couldn't take the set of drawers it was sitting on top of it - so she cleaned off her desk - which weirdly had a bowling trophy on it and I said "ah, I'll take that, payment for the scanner."

We have to make our own fun here.

I am well pleased with my trophy. I may take it with me when I go.

so she cleaned off her desk - which weirdly had a bowling trophy on it and I said "ah, I'll take that, payment for the scanner."

I sense a new album here: One picture of a trophy, and the title of "Payment for the Scanner"

or, not.

Eh?

No, I'm just going to take it home and keep spare change in it, and if anyone asks me what it's for, I'll look vague and say something like "oh, outstanding achievement in the field of excellence..."

Someone tell me if going to Bristol to see a band play an amplified bedframe is a good or bad idea! I cannot decide.

Well, if it's happening there, it would seem the best place to go and see it.

It is happening other places, but Bristol seems to be the only place it happens on a weekend.

Unfortunately, it also seems to be the weekend that was red circled for my art opening. DECISIONS DECISIONS.

I'm kinda losing interest in the art show, though. I suspect my lust may win out.

Though I'm not sure I could find Bristol on a map. It's near Wales, right? I have been on trains that the last stop was "Temple Meads Bristol" but don't remember where I was going or when or why.

I was trying to explain amplified bedframe to D on the train this morning, only she'd never read the fabulous furry freak bros so she did not understand why it was so funny - and at that point I realised how loudly I was talking in a fairly quiet commuter carriage and how it's not just D looking at me like I'm insane (which seems to be her normal expression, at least when dealing with me) but about half the carriage.

Sigh.

Bristol Parkway, and Bristol Temple Meads.

One of those would be good, presumably.

Yes, but what train was I on, that was going there? And why? (I have never been to Bristol.)

this is the recurrent problem with my life.

...that I never know where I'm going, or why - not never having been to Brisol. That isn't too problematic, really, in the grand scale of things.

Paddington, Slough, Reading, Swindon, Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads....

Ah yes, I remember it well.....

Mark G OTM. Some of them stop at Didcot and/or Chippenham too. Not that I think you'd have chosen to go to Didcot, unless you got the train to Truck.

Both Bristol stations should be a direct train from London Paddington.

Bristol Temple Meads is in the centre of Bristol. Trains from Paddington generally terminate there, though on Sundays they seem to go for a slight wander round the southwest after that.

Bristol Parkway is actually a few miles north of central Bristol in the middle of not very much, but gets a station as it's on the mainline from Paddington to Newport, Cardiff Central, Swansea (I think).

If you're going to a gig you probably want Temple Meads. Which I now realise is not what was asked, but hey. I was glad of the distraction of typing it. One of those days...

If you go to Bristol you can meet FP!

Didcot does have the railway centre with a working broad gauge locomotive.

SWINDON!!! That would have been where I was going. And now I know why - Joe's mum's country house was near Swindon, so we would have been going to visit her. The mystery is solved.

And actually, Spacecadet, that was the next question I was going to ask - if I were going to a gig, which station would I need? I should look up this venue and see if any of you have heard of it. Somewhere call Motion?

Aaah, they're also doing Glasgow on the 2nd, though I've no idea how I'd get to Glasgow. Oh wait, no, that isn't a weekend, is it? And the support bands aren't as interesting.

Also, I was wondering about the possibility of getting a photo pass. Thing is, with small bands it's perfectly easy to email and say "hey, do you fancy doing a sitting for me?" and getting a photo pass. But with bigger bands there's going to be some press agent to go for who is going to mark me as a random perve in about 30 seconds flat. :-(

I wonder if it's the kind of place that I would need a photo pass for. But if I do, I do actually know the support and could ask him. Or I could try to get someone at Plan B to get one for me.

Hrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

b-b-but you are a specific perve....

Yes, but a harmless one!

Contrary to appearances, I have never *actually* molested anyone I've drawn or photographed. Well, not in over a decade, and that one dude, he asked me to.

I see yr point. I'll scrap the photo pass idea. :-(

Right, I have given up on my impossible task from before lunch. I now hvae to find an impossible task for the afternoon.

I keep being told things will get more reliably busy when we get the next data cut. But right now it's tedious.

Right, I shall get a coffee. About 30 minutes later, I might get another one.

But what to do inbetween time?

Right now I am drawing really complicated looking maps of queries it will take me 10 seconds to build when I have the new data cuts.

if in doubt, drawing diagrammes always looks mega impressive!

I appended a list of "data issues" to documents, and for reasons of having too much time, it's an entertaining/engaging parable of the pitfalls and opportunities inherant in such an undertaking.

Instead of just being a list of duplicate records and/or bad key structures.

It is quiet here, waiting from a patch from the video server people so I am working through the photo backlog, nearly onto Kontacte from last week.

who were the support bands?

"bad key structures" sounds like a problem a prog band would face.

First support band was... erm... Winterlight. I think?

Second support band was thelightshines

And Kontakte like 2 Ks in their name, just so's you know when it comes to tagging.

.. just like Kula Shakur?

What? Bad key structures? Two Ks? Shaker, I thought.

Now you're going to make me think bad thoughts about Crispianwhoosits.

Today they are forcing chocolates on me. really good truffles dusted in pure cocoa powder, wow.

― Mark G, Wednesday, 24 September 2008 13:48 (36 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Hm, coffe time again...

Uploaded

Cool! Have you emailed Ian/Danny to let them know?

(I like how you can see all Kontakte's samplers and drum machines and things set up in the background while Sam plays.)

((I have still never seen a picture of Sam's face. I do believe he has one, I've just never seen it in a photo.))

I have just had two tiny flurries of work. And now I cannot remember what work I had found to do before I got distracted by these two information requests.

I still have not remembered. However, I have found this...

aaaaaaaawwwwwwww - wait, give me back my lighter, you are far too young to be playing with fire.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z129/stormmortimer/late%20of%20the%20pier/cargoross.jpg

new toy:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/2885872642_430795a717.jpg

139 quid. I wanted an echo for my alesis synthesiser for this gig i'm doing w/mark next month. I bought this one because it has a stereo in and I dunno I just fancied it, like. Little did I know that it is THE MOST AWESOME THING EVER. The "intensity" (IE feedback) control has this wide sweet spot where it just feeds back on itself without running away or getting louder, you just hear the sound decaying into formless mush. It's amazing, pure space noise!

Like I said earlier on yr flickr NUM NUM LOVELY LOVELY SPACE ECHO!!!!

That does indeed look awesome.

I am here! I am packed! I have the tour poster artwork in my bag to be printed at lunchtime today (I'm sure there has got to be an on demand colour copy quickie print place in Fitzrovia!) I am ready to go!

I am in control of life! Life is not in control of me!

Bring on the SPACEROCK.

I want spacerock, but instead I am waiting for a video server repair man in foggy norway.

(I should say support engineer but I feel like denigrating him as he is 2 hours late)

D is trying to make me go to Stoke for spacerock on the 11th October, but no! I want to see the Band That Cannot Be Named that night. In Bristol. You can go up with her and see spacerock in Stoke.

Kontakte were very good last night. It was a bit quiet (except, bizarrely, for the "man who played Jesus in The DaVinci Code" according to D) but still good. And there was a man who is touring the UK on a bicycle! He was enjoyable, too.

I am having another cup of coffee but I am still thinking about ginger nuts.

I have just read a hilarious post to a librarian's message board. Now I know that "hilarious" and "librarian's message board" do not normally belong in the same sentence, but it was a post slagging off my former employer! *That's* why it was hilarious.

spacecadet is quite right about Bristol stations, in every respect.

Kate, tho Parkway is a 20 min bus ride from the centre of Bristol, you'd be daft not to go to Temple Meads as the venue you mentioned is a short walk away from TM. Walk up the station approach road, left then left again, cross two bridges (rail then canal), left again and you're there.

Bristol has a canal? Ok, this sounds nice! Are there any hotels near the venue?

Actually, maybe I should just get on Google or something and look it up myself. This is sounding more and more doable.

Now whether I want to go dashing off, by myself, to the wilds of Bristol, chasing some band, is another story. But if I can join it up with some kind of historical/canal walking adventures, that makes it more appealing to me.

actually it is part of what is known as the Floating Harbour I believe, called that because the water level is at a constant level, unlike that of the River Avon nearby:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Harbour

OK, that looks very interesting indeed. Floating docks and nautical history! Do you think there's a chance I could whistle at sailors? (that said, i didn't see a single sailor in Portsmouth when I went there for the same purpose.)

Temple Meads station is quite an interesting building in itself as it was built as a terminus but later was made into a through station. But, for some reason it wasn't possible to just carry on building the line in the direction it was going already, buildings in the way perhaps, so a new part of the station was built at an angle to the first but the original building was retained. When i was a student there donkey's years ago, the original part hosted a museum called The Exploratory.

OK, now I've just been told that the spacerock band I've just done the poster for have changed the dates of the tour AGAIN.

I did a version, yesterday, with no dates on it. But then D said, no no, you have to put the dates on, so it will be a proper commemorative thing. So I redid it with dates. Now D says they have been changed.

OK I JUST WON'T PRINT THE POSTER AT ALL.

Then I can walk to Marylebone and get ginger nuts for lunch.

Ginger nuts in a ginger station?

Concentration and focus are going to be major problems for me this afternoon, I can see already. I'm far too EXCITED.

I don't want to be in the office. I want to be in Northampton already. Listening to the SPACEROCK.

Bristol is aces around the Arnolfini, home of modern ahhhhrt and some decent food. Bit like the West Country ICA.

OK, that decides it. I need a weekend break, and Bristol looks like it will be the place.

Well the video repair guy is here and it will take over an hour and a half just to back up the old configuration. I am never getting out of here.

I wish I was at home, playing with my echo machine.

I wish you were at home, playing with yr echo machine, with a live video/sound webcam link so I could hear WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE, MAAAAAN.

MAAAAAN
MAAAAAn
MAAAan
MAAan
MAan
Man
man
mn
m
.

I've just been to the Marylebone Waitrose to get ginger biscuits.

Oh. My. God.

I really thought I was gonna be asked to show an entry in DeBretts in order to get served in there or something.

That's my dad's local supermarket, dale winton, madonnna, pauline from eastenders and zeinab badawi all shop there.

v. v. v. nice food, but it cost me like £11 to buy sarnies, a salad, crips and a box of biscuits.

OHMIGOD OHMIGOD, though, these chocolate ginger biscuits are quite possibly the nicest thing I have ever eaten in my life, though. (In the biscuit family, at least.)

Their wasabi beans, though, were somewhat lacking in WASABI!!!! that the ones in EAT had.

Ooh, tell me about the Space Echo pedal! In extravagant and bored moments I daydream about getting myself one of those or the DD-20 Giga Delay (which an internet friend has and speaks highly of), but then I remember that since I haven't picked up the guitar for months and have never managed to play it worth a damn I can't quite justify over-£100 pedals.

Kate, I wandered onto your flickr from a link somewhere on ILX and loved your recent drawings. The Curie poster looks ace onscreen, I can only imagine that a real paper A3 one will be even more eye-grabbing.

My uncle was a Navy chaplain stationed at Portsmouth and other places on the south coast at various points, and from overhearing my cousins gossiping about the bars they would illicitly sneak off to when they were teenage girls, I'm not sure I'd like to encourage any sailors by whistling at them. But don't let me spoil any daydreams!

Hello there.

I'm in Bristol!

The reason for Temple Meads' odd shape is that it was originally two separate terminuses at right-angles to each other, one for the railway from London and one for the railway from Exeter. The original London terminus is now partly a museum about slavery and partly a car park. There's photos of the car park bit on my Flickr; but it is, as said above, a very interesting building.

Kate, when is this gig you're on about, and do you still have my phone number? I'm online about once a day at the minute (in my local library).

The gig is on the 11th October, and I still have a mobile number for you... Do you want to FAP or sup or museum crawl if I come down?

Definitely - me and the girlfriend have been looking about for interesting-sounding local gigs to go to, and we haven't done any of the local museums yet either. My phone number hasn't changed - let me know if you're coming.

I do not know if you will like the band, though! They are my secret shame.

Oh, and thanks for the lovely compliments on my drawings, Spacecadet!

How would you describe their music?

Um.

Bouncey theatrical electro-spacepop-prog.

Yeah, I know I'm not selling it here.

I want to get out of here and bathe in a vat of

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/2887385028_9bee235183.jpg

I will see if I can sell it to The Girlfriend :)

Even if not, there's still museum-crawling to do, although there don't actually seem to be that many good museums here at the minute.

Most frequently quoted references: Gary Numan, Sparks, Roxy Music, Queen (?!?!?), "Add N To X covering the Rocky Horror Picture Show".

I really don't know why I have fallen in love with this band. My only explanation is, well, they music is really FUN and it makes me really happy bouncing around to it. It's just totally lime green gold lamee paisley spangles which is really refreshing because I'm sick to the back teeth of music that stinks of black leather and stale potsmoke.

Also, they are very good looking.

::looks at shoes in shame::

(Then again, so were 120 Days and they were rubbitch, musically. So I can't actually entirely explain it that way, either.)

I think it does sound like the sort of thing we might quite like, actually.

Right, my library internet time's nearly over, so I'm off to go meet Kim from her work and persuade her to go to an electro-spacepop-prog gig on the 11th! Taraa for now!

I can't work out who it is

Good.

I've been watching live clips on YouTube and they just look so... entertaining!

They have this keyboard player dude who comes out in a gold lamee shirt and tinfoil all dressed up like Brian Eno, staring off into space like he might snap at any minute, balancing on one foot and occasionally poking a sampler with a stabby index finger. Then they have this singer dude who likes to take off his clothes and throw himself about, bowl cut a-flapping and sometimes he plays ELECTRIFIED BEDFRAME (I am not making this up.) But then they also have this really kick-ass rhythm section who actually carry the whole thing and make it not fall apart into stupid self-indulgence.

They remind me, oddly, of a kind of more together (and yet less predictable) They Came From The Stars (I Saw Them).

(The singer could also be, like Hilton's ... erm ... son. They look quite alike.)

...Sparks...
this keyboard player dude ... staring off into space like he might snap at any minute

Ah!
(Mind you I suppose that is just the official role of keyboard dudes)

Sounds pretty good to me too.

It is my secondary school reunion this weekend. I am not going. Probably. I sort of feel I ought to go, but the thought of all those people mentally calculating how much more weight I've put on than they have and asking all those status-assessment questions about jobs etc gives me the FEAR.

There are also three interestingish gigs in Oxford, but none amazing enough to justify non-attendance of reunion to people who like reunions. But I am going for an op next week and won't be going out for a bit after that (missing Holy Fuck and Oxes ;_; ) so I probably ought to do something other than just staring at the wall.

Beh.

I've never been to a school reunion in my life. I never plan on going to one. I really don't see what the fuss is about.

But then again, some people hvae said, the thrill is seeing that even though those people are mentally calculating how much weight you've put on, you can get schadenfreude out of seeing how much *they* have put on?

That said, it wouldn't be enough, for me, to justify my going. I had no connection to those people then, why would I want one now?

Morning all, still not free of Norway, I might be back here next week.

Went to an informal school reunion thingy over last Christmas season. The people who I thought would never leave town didn't and my sis claimed some of them hadn't left the smoker's corner opposite the school. Ever. My interactions were mostly with ex-cheerleader wannabe stage mums who knew no better than to show me pics of their teenaged kids ("this little guy looks like an Abercrombie model, right?" EW) and ask if their spawn had any potential for modeling. Had a great time pretending to take a long look at the pics in question before either saying NO MODEL IN YOUR FAMILY, SORRY or NEEDS TO LOSE 15 POUNDS.

OHMIGOD OHMIGOD HAPPY HAPPY SPACEROCK PSYCH OH YES, YIPPIEE SKIPPEEE YAYYYAAAAYAYYAYAYAYAY!!!

Ed, you will not miss spacerock because they have agreed, they are all playing my aaaaahhhhrt paaaaahrrty at the Half Moon in Herne Hill on 9th October. That's a Thursday. You should be back from Norway by then?

You are all invited, of course.

Oh, too much goodness all around.

hurrah, party, I will be back from norway (and hopefully not in Ghana/Ukraine).

Refuse to go. Say you have a very important spacerock party to go to.

Also, the great thing about this is it leaves the weekend free to go over to Bristol to see the Band That Cannot Be Named.

Wahoo, they are throwing me out of norway and I won't have to come back. Ed

Woohoo!

I am back in the library again, and still without job. I have been trying to work out who The Band Who Cannot Be nmaed are by the cunning technique of eyeing up posters for events on the 11th. It has not really worked yet.

When do you expect to get an interweb connection in yr house? I would highly suggest (after the jobless 8 months I experienced recently) that you do that, in order to aid yr jobsearch. It just makes it so much easier. Ha ha, I might just text you the name of the BAND THAT CANNOT BE NAMED but I'm still enjoying it right now.

OHMIGOD I LOVE THEM, I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!

The Quarter After/Asteroid No. 4 show last night was just SO AMAZING!!!! Everyone needs to come and see the Spacerock in Sarf London next week when they come and do mine very own gig for me:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/2895217274_0cc3b6776b_o.jpg

Here is the Spacerock with some familiar looking lights...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3200/2890204447_6809d9565e.jpg

MONDAY. I FEEL LIKE I HAVE BEEN AWAY FROM THE OFFICE FOR WEEKS. WHAT IS THIS STRANGE PLACE!?!?!?

I WANT TO BE BACK IN NORTHAMPTON WITH THE SPACEROCK.

I actually have been!

I have broked my brain.

download a patch.

mindhacks.jpg

the DDBs have been put in a van headed for France. They will not be back for a week and a half. I am safe until then.

need sleep but despite having had nap and proper 8 hour sleep still don't feel rested enough argh.

That was me *last* weekend, which was eventful because:

a) went restaurant-reviewing with a friend and our experience at restaurant in question (very obnoxious table turning practices, made worse because we were ignored by waiter for 15 of the 90 minutes they were willing to give) has now morphed into a newspaper campaign against the practice.

b) threw up from the food. Restaurant is lucky friend did not review anything other than the table-turning.

c) onward to 40th b-day ahhhhrt party in artist/photog studio 'til 4am. Hot, cold running EVERYTHING. Lots of art twinks looking for BEARS and DADDIES.

I bet yr aaaahhhrt party did not have hot and cold running DDBs. Which MY aaaahhhhrt paaaaahrty next week will have. ;-)

My weekend:

1) Five hours in Oslo airport as there was no space on the earlier flight, spent drinking free HAMMER gin. then drinking on the plane then straight to shoreditch house for birthday drinks for my sister. The house chain of clubs loose several points for poor mixology.

2) Saturday largely at home.

3) Sunday Gym then birthday lunch for sister at Cipriani, average food but a superior martini, then claridges bar for more martinis. Dissapointed that there was only one russian mafioso/hooker pairing in the restaurant.

http://www.arcus.no/filestore/Hammer-374.jpg

Wait, you were at home on Saturday? wHY DID YOU NOT COME TO THE SPACEROCK?!?!? It was 50 yards from your house! OK, more like half a mile, but still. Nul points. Ruin = no excuse.

My ahhhrt party was pretty packed with the sort of DDBs who are not into girls, being as it was for gay German photographer of some note (I think Ed could guess his identity). Many of same were being SUS searched by cops as we were leaving.

Poster work for ahhhrt party looks good.

I'm on another wild goose chase today.

How can there be something like 200 obsolete databases on the network, and not one of them is the one I'm looking for.

GARG ARG GARG GAR ARG GARG ARG.

Am I going to hvae to go through EVERY SINGLE QUERY IN EVERY SINGLE DB UNTIL I FIND THIS THING?!?!?

I really hope not.

OK, what is it you are looking for?

(i.e. I may have a short way of doing this, using INFORMATION_SCHEMA)

I am looking for a report which has to be run before every council.

It's not going to be in an information scheme, because most of these reports are hidden, scattered about in Access Databases about the system.

And I'm still convinced that the woman who was here before me either 1) actually deleted the database she was using to run on-demand reports or 2) had it hidden in some personal folder I can't get access to.

There are a dozen of these things - two summary reports and 10 detail reports, all in rtf format so I have no way of looking up how they were created. Though the fact that they are .rtf makes me think that they have been exported from Access DB reports.

Ah. Sorry, my Access is fairly limited.

These wild goose chases make me feel so discouraged.

Why on earth did they sack this woman? It really pisses me off that I'm left to clean up this mess and am expected to do all these impossible things with no idea how or even what I'm doing.

I filled out my timesheets and thought about the money, which made me feel a little bit better.

But the ratio of "stuff I can figure out" to "stuff I cannot figure out, and the people asking me have no idea what it is, either" is getting really far into the "this job sucks".

The manager said she'd go through it with me... and then went off to another meeting. I know she's new, too, but honestly. This shit is so discouraging.

I fucking hate people. :-(

I have been accepted into grad-school. Bring on pittsburgh and poverty.

Hurrah for grad school! I will ask the Asteroid to dedicate "Ask Me About Pittsburg" to you.

Awesome.

Do you know what this means, I can spent all day sneakily composing my resignation letter.

This is something that most of us only get to dream of. How long is yr notice period? And are you going to work all the way up to leaving to build up cashmoney or just take off ASAP becuase you hate it so much?

1 month, I am trying to get a relevant internship which will allow me to resign earlier.

Excellent. I think this is the way forward.

Suzy! Who was the artist who did the people disposal installation, with all the cutout paper people being put into the woodchipper? I am having a total brainfart on this.

I am also basking in this brain flatulence of which you speak.

Michael Landy?

When does grad school start, Ed? Congratulations!

Yes! Scrapheap Services. That is indeed what I was thinking about, thanks, Spacecadet.

Something in your wording confused the hell out of me; of course it is Landy. Very prescient bit of work. Fie on me, I know him and his girlfriend well enough.

January, very small amount of time to get it together.

Congratulations, Ed!

Yes, I'm back in the library again. Home internet should be "within the week" according to the Post Office, who the girlfriend has decided are the best-value people to go with. It will, indeed, make job-searching a lot easier.

Hey FP!

I'm slightly worried because I just found out that the gig in Bristol is 10pm - 6am. I am WAY too old for those kind of hours. Not sure if I should just suck up and take a nap or what.

Disco dozes are your friends. Always.

Well, I'd have to go back to a hotel late-afternoon for disco doze which kind of puts the kabosh on doing fun Bristol-based activities. Also, what is the point of getting a hotel if the gig doesn't until until 6am, and chucking out time at the hotel is noon?

Mutter mutter mutter.

I should have just sucked up and gone to the warehouse gig in Shoreditch but, like... UGH Shoreditch.

I wasn't to know that the next time they play London they'll be supporting a band SO AWFUL I would pay not to have to sit through them.

Ah, yes, we noticed that on the poster too. It did seem to be a slightly late finish. Are The Mysterious Unnamed Band on last, though?

The first train back to London on the Sunday morning would be at 7.40, apparently, if you wanted to try not bothering with a hotel at all.

I don't know if The Band That Cannot Be Named are on last or on in the middle or on at the stroke of midnight or what.

One of my teenage spies is going to see them do a similar thing tonight in Glasgow so she can get back to me on the running order.

Ah, cunning.

Given that it doesn't start til 10, wouldn't there be plenty of time for a pre-disco doze?

The problem is, if I time the nap too late, I will be out for the entire night. It's difficult, being old.

(Have you figured out who it is, yet?)

No, largely because the poster we spotted (in the doorway of excellent arty-comic-book shop Here, Stokes Croft) had a long list of performers on it , most of whose names I've forgotten.

I am enjoying this game far more than I should.

aaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1222/1420590967_2eb3327f88.jpg

Tracking them down is another of those much-easier-with-home-internet jobs too, I think.

Internet time's over for today - taraa for now!

Promo photo for a lost film, mine for a mere $19.95 & S&H:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350100989299

great pic!

Collating various things together for other people before I'm off for a bit. So far the bulk of what I've done over the past 18 months fits in a shared directory with a handful of sparsely populated subfolders, total size 9MB. Er. I probably ought to have more to show for myself...

Yr Colleen Moore obsession is starting to worry me, Pash!

Where are you going, Spacecadet?

The important stuff you do is IN YR MIND not on a hard drive anyway. (At least that is what I say when I lose everything in laptop crashes.)

OK, WTF is up with the computer network today? It's taking me 15 minutes to refresh data on my reports. And the internets just isn't being that interesting. :-(

It's the first Colleen Moore publicity still I've got! All my other ones are of Corinne Griffith and Norma Talmadge. I also got this pic of Janet Gaynor - "the wife" in "Sunrise", also the first best actress oscar winner, for the same price:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=320302921327

The seller also has a promo still of John Cage!

Up in a couple of days is this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=150297605197

I've got to have that one!

Wow, I like that feathered headdress in the second one.

I guess she must have been making a costume drama of some sort at the time? Ms Griffith is one of the unfortunate cases where almost nothing remains of any of her films. Pity, really, the one I've got, she's really good in.

The last one I got, which I now have, is this, Norma Talmadge from 1924:

http://www.mmgcollectibles.com/images/Q/QZ/QZ270f.jpg

I'll have to get it scanned, the image doesn't do it a bit of justice, the dress she's wearing is amazing. I did well to get it for $30, the last glammy pic of NT I wanted on ebay wound up going for $450! A bit rich for me, though it was a gorgeous pic.

People be trying to talk me out of getting an electronic drumkit.

:-(

the problem is, it's not a question of acoustic kit of electronic kit. Where I live, it's a question of electronic kit, or never getting to play drums at all. Which would make the daily practice required to get any good quite difficult.

Mattock has inspired me! I am going to do it this time, I am GOING to learn how to play drums.

Database, WHY ARE YOU SO SLOW?!?!?

I am really sick of waiting 10 min or more to do every query. :-(

It's that dead hour when I'm supposed to go to a gig tonight but it's too early to go so I hang out in the office with nothing to do but surf on the internets. Sigh.

Embarrassing because the head of another department was using me as an example of someone who works late a lot to get stuff done. Um.

Yes, I work late a lot, but i'm not always getting stuff done, sometimes I'm just sucking up free high bandwidth internets!

I am so lame. I got all the way to Hoxton and it just seemed to be taking so long for the bands to soundcheck that I walked outside, there was a busstop, the 149 was coming, so I got on it and went home. Without seeing anything.

Do not be talked out of getting an electronic drumkit.

We should go shopping and I can talk you into it.

WHEN I GET PAID.

Which should be soon, actually, if I fill out my invoices.

(The Prints had a catalogue with a v. cheap one for only £200 in it.)

Wow!

A&A are always fighting over who gets to play on the electric drumkit when we visit friendly music shops. (friendly = have lots of signs on their pianos/other saying "do not play,as an assistant" but never actually police this, unless, presumably, someone's little-richarding the grand) - The one in the Metrocentre, Gateshead for instance.

ask an assistant, that is.

Every time me and Kim have walked past that music shop, we've had to go in to drool over the Hello Kitty guitar that they had on display for a long time. It seemed to have gone the last time we went, though.

Yeah, it was either that one or the flying V with the razor blades and the chainsaw extras (different shop) I have to restrain Alice from..

Can you tell who it is yet, FP?

I need to stay out of musical instrument shops. They are just money holes. I need to get posters printed BEFORE the art show. Seriously.

I thought I had it, but now, I still do not know.

Nope, I need to do more research. My hour a day library time (53 seconds left today!) doesn't allow enough time for job hunting *and* spacepopelectroprog research.

Come on, I'm practically giving it away here! Not very observant, are you lot?

Oh, for crying out loud...

I forgot to bring my umbrella today because it was still drying out from last night. I just looked outside and it's PELTING down.

I have got to go and get lunch or I'm going to get seriously cranky.

BAH BAH BAH BAH BAH!!!! I am going to get wet. Very wet. :-(((((

Actually, right now it's nice in Reading.

I borrowed an umbrella from colleague. And it stopped raining practically as soon as I got out the door. nice.

Nope, it's raining again. But beeeeehind the cloooouds... it's LOOOOOOOVE-leeeeeyy...

Reading Weather + 30 mins = London, quite often.

You are correct, sir.

I don't want to be here. My meeting has been delayed by an hour and ten minutes, and I'm going to have pizza with a Payne for supper tonight.

And I've got Random Firl stuck in my head beeeehind the clouds, it's lovely.... ARGH GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

I need to get some new music again. MOAR MOAR MOAR. CD buying binges, O how I have missed you.

God, that was nightmarish.

That horrible project that I was working on last week for Boss B, that she eventually told me to just give up on, she would try to do something else... well Boss A came at about 2pm today and went ARGH, no, actually I NEEED that data. By tomorrow.

This data is just riddled with logical inconsistencies (say A = B, and B != C - you'd think that A != C, right? Nope.) I'm trying to link to other tables with no primary key (cause, like, if something is linked by member number and date, that should be enough, right? Because a single member would never change anything TWICE in one day, let alone THREE TIMES) and just... obsolete statuses all over the place that have to be filtered out...

I did eventually manage to do it - basically by writing a series of queries in Enterprise, then building a Crystal Report around it - except Crystal can't group on calculated fields, so I then had to export the groups and calc fields out of Crystal and dump them into Excel, do some cutting and chopping and then make a pivot table. And it's still very approximate because I had to make so many judgement calls in terms of dealing with the above problems.

I have TOLD both bosses that this is a very complex report, very work intensive, that cannot be run on demand. What do you want to bet that next week, she's gonna come back to me and go "Can you run that report again...?"

THEY ALWAYS DO.

I know, I know, I'm talking to myself here. There's no threads on ILX that I'm the slightest bit interested in - and even if there are, I really don't care to hear the same 4 bitter cynics trotting out their pet crocodiles. And none of my other boards are even active. BAH.

it's really kinda rubbish having an obsession if you have no one to share it with. :-(

HAI YOU GUYS. I *finally* have the internet at home again, and am fully Brightonian, oh yeah. Been out to a few gigs and pottered by the sea, but it's still a bit strange being here.

The SEA!! you have the SEA by you, that is so wonderful, the best thing about Brighton is the SEA. Are you a proper Brighton Hipster yet? (I'm not sure what exactly being a Brighton Hipster entails, I've just heard it's dreadful.) I still do harbour dreams of going and living by the seaside. Sitting by the pier and listening to the sea go WHOOSH-WHOOSH on the stones as the waves break - that is the most awesomest sound in the world.

Wow, I got in to find all kinds of mad crazy THANK YOU THANK YOU emails in my inbox today for all the goose-chasing I did yesterday. That feels nice. Makes this job worthwhile to feel appreciated like that.

Where did you find a place to live?

Oh, BTW, Ed, had dinner with Lisa last night and she says HELLO. She has worked out how to use her KNITTING MACHINE and make it do interesting things, but it works on punchcards.

I really want to get my hands on these punchcards because programming knitting machines to make mad patterns by punching patterns in cardpunches sounds like exactly the kind of knitting I could get into.

Also, we are going to write a ROCK OPERA. (That may have been the second caraffe of house red talking.)

Oh!

For some reason, that brings to mind an old printer I used to share office space with, which when in full flight printing the end-of-period invoices, would play the rhythm to "Run Run Run" the Velvet underground for 40 minutes.

We called the printer moe.

Or at least, we would have.

I love printer rhythms! Especially old dot matrix printers. My dad had one that got a really really good beat going when he was printing code. But I think invoices are so regular in terms of tabbing and spacing that they'd get that kind of disjointed Velvets beat.

Maybe I should name my printer Moe. Except it's a laser or whatever, so it's silent. maybe I shall call it John Cage instead.

I need to look up a proper printer for my art show. I walked past one in Clerkenwell last night, but London printers are probably going to be expensive, yes no? (However, I might make the money back in terms of not having to get it delivered which adds ££££ to using out of town internets printers.)

best I can suggest is give these guys a ring or use their online estimate tool.

http://fedexkinkos.co.uk/servicecenter/personal_solutions.html

What online estimate tool? You have to fill out a bunch of forms and then they will email you back. I want standard full colour A3 prints, why can't they just list their prices online graded by quantity, like other printers do?

Morning

Kim says: she has That Certain Band's album on her PC, and she didn't recognise them at all from your descriptions on this thread.

Does that mean she doesn't like them and she's not going, or does it mean that because she has their album, she likes them and she does want to go?

everyone who describes them seems to come up with a completely different (and often contradictory) description of them. Which is kind of what I like about them. Play them for one person who goes "teenage myspace electro nu-rave" and play them for another person who goes "Captain Beefheart prog bonkers art school damage".

She doesn't want to go, but that's for different reasons.

Oh god, but if you guys don't go, I either have to go by myself (scary) or else meet up with the teenage internet spies (could be even scarier).

I'm really having second thoughts about doing an all night warehouse rave party because, well, I'm OLD and I cannot do the young people's dancing ALL NIGHT. Especially not without the aid of DRINK and PILLS which are things I do not do anymore because I am TOO OLD.

I just don't think I can get through 6 to 8 hours of young person's dance music on coffee and disco naps alone.

BUT I WANT TO GO I WANT TO GO, PEOPLE WHO WENT TO THE ONE IN NEWCASTLE SAID IT WAS GRATE AWESOME LOL WIN WIN WIN!!! (I am spending too mcuh time talking to young people I am starting to talk like them.)

OH GOD I REALLY AM STARTING TO SOUND LIKE MISS AMP ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!

I might still be going. I'll email you about it - does your yahoo address still work?

Have you found out when they're likely to be on. They are headlining, but there are DJs and so on also listed on the poster, so we were thinking that their set might well be over by 2am or so.

I will ask the teenagers when they calm down and stop going AAAIIYYEEE WIN WIN WIN SO CUET!!! AWESOME THEY ARE MADE OF WIN!!!!! if I can get any sense out of them whatsoever. (I am not complaining; it is very cute.)

Yes, yahoo account still works.

You are making it sound as if it might be slightly like the Hadouken! gig we went to last November, in terms of audience-members.

(lots of teenage moshing and nu-ravers breaking glowsticks open and pouring the toxic goop in each other's hair)

(I was impressed, though, when Hadouken! were mentioned on The Archers the other month)

(email sent)

(email answered)

I think this is good for me, because it's making me remember that teenagers can be wacky and fun and cute and creative, and not just annoying MP3 blasting hoodies on the bus.

Yes - it's always good to remember that there are Healthily Creative teenagers out there (Kim's sister for example, who we went to the Hadouken! gig with - she's just starting an art college foundation year)

Five minutes left of today's internet hour - have a nice day!

I have found the listing for the tour but I am utter clueless as to who they are but I suspect the usaual fun-hating suspects round here would dislike them intensely.

Ah, Ed, there are some links to their videos on ILM - but wait, oh, you don't read ILM.

I think you might actually like them. Because they synthesize a lot of that kind of ravey young persons' dance music thing with utterly bonkers PROG. And I mean proper Prog not like MGMT's whole stupid "we wear capes, we must be prog" when they sound like a bad Dandy Warhols covers band thing.

I think they are actually going out of their way to do a fun, interesting, really ecclectic and "weee listen to this" tour before they get bundled off as support act to shitty Parlaphone bands again next month. (Caesar Salad Chefs - no, I just CAN'T.)

Oh! It looks like I'm going to the Television Personalities tonight. Oh dear.

Try this:

Hmm, watching without sound...

No no no no noooooo I can't watch that one, they're all NAKED in that one and it's far too EXCIIIITING to watch at work.

I need to cut down on the coffee. Seriously.

Hey gang. I'm back in London (legally!).

Awesome, was it relatively painless then?

Hurrah for legality!

xpost yes
not entirely stress-free (first they wanted another document from my bank, then I was informed that my picture was ONE MILLIMETER TOO SMALL), but in the end it only took four days. Big thanks to E for recommendation of the expediter. Totally worth it.

I have just learnt that I can't use an expiditer for my US student visa.

I don't know what an expiditer does, but I want one...

http://www.molochsorcery.com/i/Misc1/tn_expedite.jpg

Better call
.
..
...
THE EXPEDITER

Hello everyone.

Hello, where have you been?

'ello

I need some new gym music, I was enjoying boris during my cardio the other night and TC Lethbridge doing weights. Any ideas?

You are not Ed. Go away, imposter. I refuse to believe that the Ed I know would EVER post a sentance like I was enjoying boris during my cardio the other night.

having an internet break. Need to rest my eyes a bit i think. So not online much.

I am suddenly realising that I don't want to go out tonight. (I want to stay in, get things done.)

But I agreed to take a friend's TVP ticket off her so now it would be totally ungrateful not to go.

Though I really am experiencing terrible longing for my sofa and my laptop.

AAAHHHH! My teenage spies report that The Band That Cannot Be Named went on at about 11.30 which is quite civilised and much better than I thought it would be.

Walking past a junk shop on Essex Rd, I spotted a quite accurately rendered, naked top-half of a mannequin. My first thought was "huh, that mannequin's pretty hot." I then thought to myself that most mannequins are probably hot; that's sort of the point. I then realized that this was probably the exact series of observations that led to the movie Mannequin.

Sigh. Born too late.

If you were really ahead of the curve, you could write a song about it, and about how they escape and go out dancing, and put it to a drum machine beat and synth squiggles and OH WAIT!

:-D

Sometimes I do love my job. I walked to the (real) watercooler and two of my colleagues were talking - the one said "...your anus and took his testicles and threw them into the sea!"

I tried to keep a straight face and back out quietly not making any sudden moves, until he finishes the sentance

"...and that's how Aphrodite was born from the bits of Uranus."

And I realised they were talking about Greek mythology. I could not help myself. I just did one of those massive SNARF I'm trying to hold in a laugh and then they both burst out laughing.

Oh boy. Today is shaping up to be... erm... weird.

Ran into a close friend on the commute and she has just found out that the great lost love of her life is getting married. Eeep.

Got into work, and there's this weird message from some dude I've never met saying essentially that my boss has walked off the project - don't know if permanently or just a momentary storm-out but, erm... ARGH.

Eek, frightening. But hurrah for civilised gig timings.

You're on the interweb early!

I got in to my local library as soon as it opened, before all the computers were snapped up.

This one is 10 minutes walk away, but only opens 4 days a week, and not until 10am. It's also tiny. I'm usually at the bigger library half an hour's walk from my flat, which opens at 9.30 every day but is a lot busier, with its computers usually booked in advance.

Ah, that makes sense. I always forget they have computers in the library that you don't have to pay for.

I went to a RUBBISH gig last night. I think I have a new contender for top 3 worst bands ever seen. However, I did get some drawing done.

And went record shopping... I finally replaced that Trans Am album I was obsessed with last year and lost in the laptop crash. And I decided that now is that time that I should learn to appreciate Captain Beefheart so I bought Trout Mask Replica.

I am not really sure what to expect.

GREAT. My colleague just took my DB offline and didn't bother TELLING me. I was in the middle of trying to copy and back up my views when the whole connection just disappeared.

In that case, I don't really have anything to do today.

Ouch, nasty. At least you weren't doing something more severe than copying your views.

Well, I'm having a meeting with my boss's boss this afternoon. Eep.

I might do some typeset formatting, as I've just been told that will be coming next week, and I've got a new datacut coming next week that I will have to deal with.

I am doing something which you told me a while back that I definitely should never, ever, do - emailing back someone who turned me down for a job.

It's not such a bad idea, in an interviw situation, they may find that they were mistaken in a particular assumption they made at the time.

e.g. "Doen't seem the kind of person to persist through a difficult situation OH WAIT.."

So long as you didn't beg and go PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GIVE ME THE JOB I WILL WORK FOR LESS MONEY or anything like that.

If you sent a message saying "I see the job is readvertised, I'd like to let you know I'm still available..." then that might be OK.

I do know that that has worked once - but it was for my brother. (He interviewed for an investment bank job, they gave the job to someone else. He wrote about a month later asking how that was working out going "If he's useless, get rid of him, hire me." Astonishingly enough, they gave him the job. For sheer cajones, possibly.

Bah, it bounced anyway.

But yes, it was a slightly long-winded "I notice you've readvertised this job twice now..." email. Without begging. I have tried resending it to another plausible-looking address.

The interview feedback I got was slightly strange, too, so I've mentioned that.

Right, my hour's over - back next week!

Hey FP.

I was in somerfield this morning and saw one of the headlines in the telegraph was "Free Pashmina With Tomorrow's Telegraph"

I would almost buy the Telegraph if it meant I got a free Pashmina to sit in my living room and make WUBWUBWUBWUB noises with the Giant Synth Of Joy.

I mean, who doesn't need one of these in yr living room?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1437/568474148_6b043a30ba.jpg

I really don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of the day. The rest of the office are going to the pub for lunch but it's way too early for me to be eating yet. Ho hum. Guess I'll update my blog, then what?

Had lunch. (With a rather spectacular view of Office Crush)

Now what?

Also, I want to know why the Pret by my office is never playing anything except some weird remix of I'm A Reasonable Man Get Off My Case by Radiohead. I have never heard any other song playing in there. I go in at different times, too. I swear they must have that one song on a loop.

Christ, I'm bored. Don't know how I'm going to make it through the rest of the day.

And the coffee machine gave me grey milk again instead of cappuccino.

Obviously, I have failed in my quest to find something to do.

La la la la la laaa, I wish I had sound on my computer at work. I'd love to know what's being said in this...

http://www.vbs.tv/video.php?id=1447240445

However, I have to be content to look at the pointy-nosed floppy-haired boys sitting in the BATHTUB god what is it about boys in bathtubs, rowr, better than boys in shopping carts.

Where is everyone? It's Friday afternoon you can't all be working.

Hang on, if my boss has actually walked out, who on earth will approve my timesheet? AARGGH.

Bored here too.

I got the 2 old movie stills, very quick delivery from the st8s. the still of Janet Gaynor is gorgeous. Bright-eyed, slightly sardonic expression on her face is v v appealing.

I'm playing this EM festival up in Dundee in a fortnight, I fear the attendance is going to be poor. It's annoying especially because a/the organiser has put loads into it b/some other em fest w/acts generaly v v derivative of "ricochet" always gets a good crowd but what can you do.

I decided yesterday that I'm going to look for a job and pack up being in retail. I'm sick of having no money.

It's a bad time to be looking for a job!

But that said, it's probably a worse time to be in retail.

Surely with yr mad electronix skillz you could find something, though?

I think Alice is turning into Chan Marshall...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y161/MarkGrout/SandThings.jpg

Watch out, you will be bad dad beating boys off with a stick.

Half an hour until meeting with big big boss. I want to stamp my feet and demand pointy nosed boys in a bathtub.

There's a lad down the street, looks like ATurner from the arctics, but is actually nine years old (as opposed to just looking like he is), has a bit of a crush an Amber, it's quite cute, and I am definitely trying not to embarrass the girl too much...

Must watch out for that looking like 9 year old/being 9 year old thing.

OK, I just found out that one of the lads in The Band That Cannot Be Named (the second most pointy-nosed of them) was actually 17 in 2004. I'm really quaking at the maths on that one. EEEP.

I feel a bit weird about how I found that out... I ended up stumbling onto his profile on an artists' networking site. Which is a really weird thing about the internet and its current level of transparency. It brings a whole new level to that whole "before they were famous..." thing if their entire pre-fame personality and life are already documented and saved on the internet.

I felt a bit creepy because, well, although I was enjoying looking at the art (he is actually a quite good illustrator) there were some very personal comments in the explanations of what inspired the work. Like... would you have *written* this if you had known you were going to be famous, and random fans/strangers on the interweb would be reading this in 2 years time?

But then I suppose I never thought about it when posting explanations of songs/artwork/etc. when Shimura Curves were getting their small attention.

There's just so much of *everything* thesedays, sometimes I wondered that in the event of the world's end and ten thousand years from now, what will represent us here today. Probably a found 12" single of a "Spelt Like This" promo or something...

Lots and lots of sillicon chips. They will probably think we worshipped microprocessors, we put them in everything, didn't we?

(I am just feeling creepy for lusting over sketch he did of the hott one aged also probably about 17, eeep.)

OK, I am now officially here until Xmas.

But that means I can't really do NaSoAlMo in November now as I'll be working! Also, I've actually got a commission for a proper painting for when I'm unemployed, but now I don't know when I'll be unemployed.

So confusing.

I wonder if there is a Flickr group for "indie boys in bathtubs". There certainly is for "indie boys with cats".

Damn, There is a "boys in bathtubs" but unfortunately it is *actual* children. Do not want.

haha

We couldn't find any results matching indie and boys and bathtub.

Would you like to try a search for kids, children, music, rock or girls instead?

NO I BLOODY WELL WOULD NOT. JUST GIVE ME SOME INDIE BOYS IN BATHTUBS.

HANG ON!!! WIN WIN WIN!!!

http://flickr.com/photos/56003873@N00/975260311/

(It is safe for work, it's just not my particular type of indie boy so I'm not bothered.)

Success.

http://www.vbs.tv/images/thumbs/1447240445.jpg

I HAVE TEETH I HAVE TEETH YOU HAVE TEETH

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3138/2912711815_07095ed411_o.jpg

I think I am losing my mind.

I just spent the entire afternoon making handmade tickets for the show on Thursday using potatoes and tempera paints and magic markers. PEOPLE BETTER COME.

Frances is DJing now so it will extra special psychedelic.

TEETH HAVE EYE

Do vases have eyes?

hello, good morning, I shall be there on thursday, I am very excited about it.

Well, everything is changing faster than I can keep up with.

It's kind of a bit of... I round up something really cool and then someone else kind of takes over and changes it all around.

It's still going to be a gig, it's still going to be very cool and Frances will DJ and you should go - but I don't know if it's going to be my *opening*.

I have just ordered posters from the cheap place that screwed up the delivery dates last time, but I've actually got a day's leeway because I've got it on time... but we shall see.

Still waiting for the data cut... they are checking it and have found all sorts of problems with it ARGH.

Today is going to be long, I am suffering from post birthday (mine and a friends) alcohol induced lethargy.

But I thought yr birthday wasn't for another week yet! Hence the train and beer plans?

Oh god I am useless with dates.

was yesterday, but train and beer plans (which need some more planning) seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.

ARGH!!! Sorry for missing it. Happy belated birthday - clearly it was good if the hangover is this bad.

Let us make beer and train related plans.

Damn, I was looking for the details of beer and trains, but I can't seem to find UK Watercooler 33! ARGH. Please post details again, Ed?

OK, I've just discovered that the gig of the Band That Cannot Be Named appears to be happening inside a giant SKATE PARK.

I really am going to be the oldest person in teh building, am I not? Oh god. HALP I CANNOT SKATE!!!

However, if you don't have to skate, it could just be fun running up and down the wobbly floors.

I am busy busy busy - have only just got my reading for this week and it is LOTS, eek. And despite living bang in the centre of town with Waterstones and Borders (can't remember the apostrophe rule for these guys, so shall leave it out) only a minute away, neither they nor the university bookshop have the books that I don't already own. GAHHHH.

Anyway, happy birthday to Ed, and I hope your opening goes as you want it, MB.

I has train tickets now, too. Buying two singles was half the price of a standard return. WTF?

Hi, emil.y! Sorry I feel like I've been stalking you on Flickr!

And now I has a hotel - with free interweb and a SWIMMMING POOOL.

(Even though I do not swim, I can hang out by the pool and sing Holger Czukay songs.)

I have a spare bed in case any of the teenage spies need a place to crash, but need to avoid getting saddled with some kind of teenage party action. I AM AN OLD PERSON AND I NEED SLEEEEEP.

Oh yes, it's cool, in ze pool...

No need to feel like you are flickr stalking, I like it when friends look at my stuff. It makes me feel important, heh. I am conflicted about making the vast majority of my photos public, though, as I know some friends don't have accounts and still want to see, but then I get oddballs favouriting pictures of mouths and me in school uniform (I blocked that guy, unsurprisingly).

SO LET'S GET HOTTT IN ZEE DANSING ZPOT!!!

on zer Way to zer PEEK OF Normal..

I may feel obliged to wear a Holger Czukay mustache to the gig, since I hear that this is what is IN among the young dancing people.

Talking of moustaches, my sister gave me the first pair of cufflinks that she has made and they are little silver moustaches.

Hello there!

It turns out that the gf has, she thinks, seen The Band That Cannot Be Named twice. She's not entirely sure, but she thinks it was twice.

I am on the worst computer in the Bristol library system today - it loaded google mail long enough for me to see that I didn't have any important emails, before IE crashed. Fingers crossed this post makes it. I'm annoyed because I seem to have lost my USB flash drive; I now have a big big big backlog of Flickr pictures to upload, and I wanted to start making a dent in it.

Went to a twee indie gig at the weekend, entirely by chance. We were walking down the street on Saturday afternoon thinking "hmm, what shall we do", when we had to stop and wait because a bridge was open. Whilst waiting and watching the boats going in and out, we noticed a poster pasted up by the bridge. A gig poster with a twee indie font. We read down a bit: "ooh, it starts in 15 minutes". Read a bit more: "ooh, it's 5 minutes walk from here". So we spent a happy afternoon sitting in a scout hut listening to boys with guitars and Casios, eating home-made flapjack from the refreshments desk.

Apart from the flapjack bit (all flapjack is ace and un-rubbishable) that sounds like my idea of HELL.

How can it be fair that yr gf doesn't even LIKE the Band That Cannot Be Named and has managed to see them twice and I'm head over heels in stupid lovey love love land with them and I've never seen them?

Oh wait. This may point to an idea of their NOT BEING VERY GOOD live. But no... I've seen YouTube clips of them live and they look even better live than on record.

I am still worried about this SK*R park thing, though.

Once was at the Leeds Festival, and once, she thinks, an electro-fan friend dragged her to see them. The latter's the one she's not sure about.

It was indeed very good flapjack. A couple of the boys with guitars were indeed a bit dull - I started to get that "isn't this song finished yet?" feeling quite a lot, but the ones with keyboards too were quite good, especially the ones with the sharply-written lyrics to go with them. Even if one was trying too hard to be John D4rn1elle (to the extent of opening with one of his songs. Does JD's name still need google-proofing round here?)

Maybe it wasn't them, maybe it was one of those rubbish bands that all the kids like so much (the teenage spies keep trying to get me to listen to Klaxons or Metronomy and all that kind of thing and I'm all NO NO I'M JUST GONNA STICK WITH MY OLD CAN RECORDS THANKS.)

Does anyone have sound on their computers at work?

Can you listen to a band and tell me what they sound like before I agree to go to a gig tonight?

My friend wants to go and see them because she likes the name and she's trying to drag me along - but I've got to go home and print flyers for tomorrow.

It's entirely possible that it wasn't them at all! You can always try to convince her.

This computer appears to have a speaker socket, but sadly I didn't think to bring my headphones with me.

I think JDarn's Googleproofing was more so that if someone typed his name into Google, they'd get his music / website rather than his ILX ramblings/ 'difference of opinions w/ Momus' stuff.

I read the descriptions on MySpace and Last.FM and they looked RUBBITCH. I mean, like NOIZE BORAD/Plan B screaming shouty rubbitch.

However, they are called Screaming Tea Party so what did I expect?

I'm going to be around all day on Sunday (my train does not leave until 8pm due to weirdness with the tickets) so if she doesn't want to go to TBTCBN we can totally hang on Sunday afternoon and go to museums and have tea/dinner and stuff.

I still haven't found out what has happened with my boss. I'm beginning to get kind of annoyed at being left out of the loop.

Ah well, post-lunch slump. I haven't had a thing to do all day - I thought I had an MI request but the woman isn't answering my email now. I feel really guilty about getting paid to book weekend breaks, but what else can I do if no one will tell me what's going on, and the data cut isn't ready yet? (I really hope they bother telling me when it is.)

despite living bang in the centre of town with Waterstones and Borders ... only a minute away

I have sound on my work computer. I'd go insane if I didn't, I think.

Poo, can you give Screaming Tea Party a listen and tell me what they sound like, then? Just google, their myspace will come up.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

sorry, did not mean to post that liek that, it posted itself!

I meant to say... YEESSS just got text confirmation - I have been paid so it will cross in the post with Council Tax cheque and will not bounce.

Why am I still paying SO MUCH TAX, though? this 35% bracket is a BEEAYATCH.

Fizzy guitar jerky pop-punk I guess on this song (bit Devo maybe?). Slightly twee indiepop on 2nd one.

Are they shouty, though?

That's the thing that I'm really worried about, them being shrill and shouty. I really can't deal with being shouted at.

The one song has, well, raised voices on it. Not really OTT shouting

Maybe I will go.

I don't know though, I'm supposed to go to the SAME VENUE tomorrow night for the Simon Bookish launch - since it's supposed to be early and I can make Sonic Cathedral afterwards.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7651105.stm

^ for Kate

Huh, that's interesting. I mean, this is the kind of thing that I was actually taught at my school, the way that the Bible was put together and how it was edited and changed.

Kate, it sounds like you are on emergency tax rate again. Call your agency and ask what the "emergency" is.

The emergency was that I have been unemployed since the last tax year began, so had no valid P45.

The other, more annoying emergency is that I'm up in the nosebleed tax bracket now. I'm paying 35% as opposed to 40% on account of my umbrella agency, but it's still high enough to turn me Tory. (j/k)

And my tax is based on the idea that I would be earning this rate for the whole year, rather than the actual truth that I will be earning this rate for about 5 or 6 months of the year, then back to blissful unemployment. (I suppose that means I will eventually get some of it back, though.)

Well, my meeting for today has been cancelled.

Have finally heard back from the boss that walked out - with slightly more details about who the argument was with at least.

Morning!

What time do you get here on Saturday, Kate? We were thinking of going out to look at steam trains on Sunday, but we can postpone that until later in the month.

You automatically get overpaid tax back but not till April next year.

I don't think I'm getting to Bristol until 4 pm or so on Saturday?

Also, I've agreed to let a couple of the teenage spies crash in my spare bed to save them having to sleep in the railway station.

PI feel bad if you have to postpone yr plans on my account if you have already made them, but it looks like Sunday afternoon is going to be my museum visiting time and I'd love to go with you guys.

I'll check my train details and emails you.

ARGH SUPER URGENT REQUEST JUST CAME IN SO GOING TO HAVE TO EMAIL YOU LATER, FP.

No, Sunday's fine really. We didn't have any firm plans, only that the steam railways near here only run on Sundays in October.

No problem with the email, I'll send you an answer tomorrow. Assuming that our home internet stuff doesn't turn up today (it should really have turned up by now, grrr).

Cool! I finished that data request really quick, so I'm hoping you're still online to read the email.

This is gonna be great, I'm really excited both about the gig on Saturday *and* doing fun museum stuff and hanging out with you guys on Sunday! What a perfect weekend break - RESULT.

Hurrah!

ARGH I have just lost internet access for several hours. Or rather, I could get to half the internet, but not the other half. So frustrating! And I was trying to send out invitations/reminders for the aaaahhhrt paaaahhhrty (I am trying to remember if I sent actual invitations out two weeks ago when I found out about it - and have an awful feeling I did not, so I hope people do not get a reminder for something they never got an invite for in the first place GOD I AM STUPID.)

D has refused point blank to go see Simon Bookish with me tonight so I guess I'm flying solo on this, ha ha, I guess "laptop electro cabaret like the bastard teenage son of Momus" is not so appealing to her, huh?

looking forward to it. Are we in The Dream Machine first?

No, it's starting at the venue becuase of the awful added extra third band who are apparently going on at 7.30 to be done by 8.

(I haven't actually sorted out the exhibit at the shop yet, I've just kind of thrown a bunch of pictures up on the wall above the drumkit. There may yet be a "private view" at a later date when I sort that out.)

i dont like simon bookish

He is very amusing live.

OK, I mean, that said, I haven't seen him in... two years? But he is highly entertaining to watch.

Also, I totally owe him at the moment because he had backups of illustrations I thought I had totally LOST FOREVER.

ARGH ARGH ARGH KILL KILL KILL

After I think I've sorted everything out with the promoters, they're sending out these bulletins that are promoting the AWFUL AWFUL support band and don't even mention my art. I feel like throwing a total diva fit but I shall refrain.

I should do some work now I have some. yes.

Did anyone check out that Syd Barrett tribute album? It's actually very good, though maybe not if you're of the Forest Pinefox fan of music.

If you dare venture to Nick's blog he has written about Bookish sometime this week.

Now what on earth would I be doing on Nick's blog? ;-P

It's weird that he's suddenly popping up all over the place. (Bookish, that is, I'm used to Nick popping up everywhere, especially sofas ha ha)

I cried off a Bookish gig on Nick's last visit, I think (forgetful on this) and I'm pretty sure the sofa surfer will be around next week, doing just that.

Damn, too bad Sofa Surfer is going to miss my art pahhhaarttty. (NOT!)

KIDDING!

I still think of Bookish as that skinny kid in the boiler suit and mismatched socks who used to hang around Kapitol K gigs. It's all "aw, cuet, is he a pop star now?" I think I was accidentally really rude to him the last time I saw him (in some awful pub in Shoreditch after the Shimuras journo posse tried and failed to get in to review the "secret" Slits gig) - because it was just after the whole K vs. @my/pr10r split had just gone down and we were trying to be all girl solidarity.

And now I feel really really bad because K was clearly trying to be friendly. Ach.

or was that Kevin Blechdom gig where I got in the massive row with Bumlove after that? I totally missed his set because I got stuck doing the door while Amp and the Plan B posse SCHMOOOOOZED and drank all the free boooouse.

Where can I get bloody canapes in Sarf London at that time of night?

OH GOD WHO THE HELL WAS I JUST CHANNELLING IN THAT LAST POST?

Must NOT start acting all sweetie darling and namedropping coz I is a proper Artiste now.

;-p

Dear Kate, it looks like I can't come to your opening now 'cause I have to be in St. John's Wood disassembling, moving, then reassembling a wardrobe instead. I assure you I would rather be at your show!

Damn, that wardrobe better have a lion and a witch in it, to be worth missing my show for! ;-)

Srsly. It's all part of the 'get our shit together before a baby comes and sends us for an 18-year loop' plan.

how is the job hunt going?

YOU ARE GOING TO KEEP YR BABY IN A WARDROBE?!?!?!?

Surely there are laws against that kind of thing!

good thing I'm still google-proofed

short-term job hunt is at a standstill 'cause I can't find nothing

long-term (i.e., academic) job hunt is about to get really real in about 2 weeks.

Although I am studying to take the SAT (yes, really) for a ridiculous pie-in-the-sky tutoring position. It's...weird.

Wow, that is weird (and expensive).

The SAT as in the American LOL high school test? GAH.

Why would Britishers need to be tutoured for that? (To get into US Universities?)

Huh. I've just got a commission email for an illustration from a magazine I don't ever remember writing for or even asking to work for? My memory is going.

U.S. students in the UK innit. (Also, yeah, rich Brits wanting to go to Harvard etc)

It's official. I'm suffering from US Election burnout.

OK, I'm feeling sick to my stomach.

two of my closest friends have essentially said they won't be coming to my opening because of ongoing personal problems with the shithead from this shitty band that has been foisted on me.

I just want to stamp my feet and say it isn't fair. How can these utter cnuts ruin something which I've been so exited about for so long? And there's nothing I can do about it?

Bah, having looked up the band I can see the root of the feud.

I feel like crying.

Maybe I should just scrap the whole thing and pulp the posters and stay home and if anyone asks explain that I'm never doing anything ever again.

Basically...

On one side are two of my best friends, who have supported me, emotionally, creatively, even financially (by commissioning and paying me for artwork when I was down to my last £10).

On the other side is a shitty band with a person who has routinely insulted me, and others - slagged me off publicly, left shitty abusive comments all over my blog because he disagreed with a review.

This is supposed to be MY art opening, the one time in my life that I'm ALLOWED to be a total diva and have everything Just Right.

And I've got a bunch of incompetent hippies who can't even bother to get a gig listed choosing person B over people A - for a night that wouldn't even be HAPPENING if a rock band didn't owe me a favour in exchange for ME doing t-shirt and promotional art for them.

I've been saying I have to be an adult and suck up and deal, but this latest blow - NO - I refuse to suck up and deal.

Not that it helps but this is what is pissing me off right now:

Found out yesterday that my bonus and contractual pay rise are going to be late by yet another month. They have been dicking around pushing my review back from before I went to norway. I was kind of banking on that money allowing me to quit in november and giving me time to pack up my life and move to america. I need to spend this evening picking over my contract and seeing if there is anything to stop them from paying me if I resign after the bonus is awarded but before I get paid.

That totally sucks, Ed (and shows you can't bank on stuff until stuff's in the bank).

Kate, your two friends are being WUSSY and should support you on your night regardless of who else is coming. They outnumber the person you all want to ignore. Perhaps you could pointedly ignore him together?

It's not that simple, Suzy.

I do not want the cnutish band playing, either. They were booked without my knowledge or consent. They are right and I am wrong, I should have stood my ground and said "this is MY opening and I'm not having them."