i-want-more: June 2005

Thursday, June 30, 2005

Looks like I was right, then

That's a first...see here

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

I think I lost my headache

I have contracted some kind of summer cold. Am feeling very odd and hot. That's hot in a warm way, not in a sexy way (I'm never hot in a sexy way). Was concerned that the illness was stress-related - it has been busy at work of late. However, Miss JoJo appears to have it too, so it can't be the pressure that's causing it this time.

Anyway, back to other stuff. I was listening to the mighty Queens of the Stone Age on the train in this morning and daydreaming about being a part-time member of said band. I've often imagined myself in a band of some kind: the first group I ever wanted to be in was The Monkees. I think it had something to do with the burgundy suits they used to wear (in the 90s, I wondered for a while if the uniforms were what really fascinated me about the Make Up...but that's a side point).

Other bands I have imagined myself in (by no means an extensive list): Dexy's Midnight Runners, Huggy Bear, Roxy Music, Duran Duran.

The fact that I have no musical talent hasn't stopped me from imagining myself as some kind of guitar god, standing on Josh Homme's right-hand side, cranking out riffs and doing ace back-up vocals.

Maybe this cold has made me delirious. I'd better check back in when I'm feeling better.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Bongo

Forgot to post this earlier. Received an email this morning which tickled me.

Some graffitti - I saw next to Clapham South tube this morning: "Make Bono's celebrity history"

Dreams and reality

Had a funny old dream last night. Young Radish and French Nat were hanging about wearing candy-striped hats (in a style not unlike one would see an old-time railwayman wearing). I don't know why they were wearing these and I can't remember what they were doing either. Possibly it's cos the pair of them are going to Gay Shame (the only event worth attending this weekend)? I wonder if they're planning on wearing some headgear in this style? Also, my old chum from Exeter Bonham-Carter made a cameo appearance. She was telling me about stuff that had been going on in her life. This wasn't surprising, because I have recently made contact with her again after a gap of three or four years, and we are hoping to meet for a chat and a drink soon.

Ahem.

Moving swiftly on, I'd like to have a bit of a word about Big Brother (link here is to the BB:Digital Spy site, as opposed to Endemol's 'official' website, which I can't be bothered to Google - go find it yourself).

This year we have a group of appalling individuals in the house whom are setting themselves up as a moral 'norm' (Saskia, Maxwell, Anthony and Craig - white Anglo-Saxons, apart from the 'quarter-Sri Lankan' Saskia. This woman stated in her audition tape that despite her ethnicity she didn't like "all these immigrants being let into the country". What a twat) against the more lively 'ethnic' group (Makosi, Derek, Kemal, Science, Vanessa).

Could this be racism in action on our screens? I'm not sure that Endemol really planned for this. We've seen Maxwell verbally abuse Science for stealing...you can see those little cogs clunking away in his thick skull - 'it's alright for me to do this because all black blokes are thieves'. Marco (BB housemate from last year) has some interesting stuff to say about racism/homophobia in the house on the above link.

Ironically, Trevor Phillips, the Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, appeared on BBC Breakfast News this morning, praising BB for its positive portrayal of Black and Asian Britons.

He's dead right that they will be portrayed positively, particularly when compared to their white counterparts this year.

Monday, June 27, 2005

No aloha

Soundtrack: 'Last Splash' by The Breeders

God love Kim Deal. In my teens, I spent the best part of a year of my life trying to ape her. Is there a finer woman in the world to want to be? [Rhetorical question.]

Had a pleasant weekend hanging about with JJ. Friday's thunderstorms left us in the happy position of not having to water the allotment, this left us rather more free than usual to do fun stuff. We had a fine old time, just the two of us.

Went to Camden market yesterday and bought a pink vintage dress...a frivolous purchase, but one I hope I'm going to get some mileage out of. Everyone needs a pink dress in their repertoire. I got to use some more Yiddish when trying on stuff - notably the word 'zaftig'. Which is what I am. It amazes me that there are vintage clothes out there to fit me...being 'cuddly' ( a polite way of putting it) is usually a bit of a curse when it comes to second-hand stuff.

So what's going on this week? It's looking a bit quiet, which is probably just as well. Hoping to meet with Jezza to catch up. Emails today from both Ms Robinson and Sumi, my old housemates from the infamous 62 Cally Road. Now there was a place that was once seen, never forgotten. I'll post a photo of it here sometime. Happy times.

Friday, June 24, 2005

Dry the rain

Soundtrack: KEXP Seattle

I was listening to the Beta Band's 'Three EPs' on the way in to work today which is one of the most summery albums I own. It aint a stone-cold classic, but on the whole it's a corker. [It also reminds me of my close friend Ms Darwin, which is a good thing.] A couple of their songs use birdsong as samples, which is perfect for this time of year. Of course, not all birdsong is melodious - the wild and crazy parakeets that live near me wake me every day in with their screeching, which starts at dawn.

The allotment is blooming. Loads of raspberries and the salad potatoes we've dug so far have been delicious. There's nothing better than the smell of water on dry earth...it's quite possibly my favourite smell.

My cute embroidery kit has arrived this morning. I'm turning into an old lady...a colleague joked that it'll be jam next. He immediately went on to tell me that he has some blackcurrant bushes in his garden, but his family don't go bundles on them. Sacrilege! So I have expressed an interest - he said that last year there were about four pounds of currants. Have already started dreaming about the many pies that could be made from that amount of fruit.

It's JJ's birthday weekend: no big celebration planned, just the pair of us hanging about. Rain is forecast so hopefully that'll mean that we don't have to schlep down the allotment too much. Note my use of the Yiddish there, in honour of Young Radish, whom I've just had a very pleasant lunch with.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Always crashing in the same car

Soundtrack: 'Low' by David Bowie

I am a fairly recent Bowie convert. However, I think I may have subliminally absorbed a large portion of his early back-catalogue as a child. Sister number 3 was a big fan - in fact she gave her GCE/CSE English oral exam on the album 'Ziggy Stardust', which I think is immensely cool. I doubt she would have known at the time how much that album was influenced by Davey's pal Sir Itchy Pop.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a home where the (now useless) Radio 1 and local commercial radio stations were on a lot. I was the youngest of five girls and my sisters were in their teens when I was born, so pop was very much part of the set-up.

As a result, I am a music nerd and my specialist subject is the period 1980-1989. I've been known to get into evening-long discussions with my pal HateBoy about the majesty of Stock Aitken and Waterman; been invited to Napalm Death gigs by Clouse, C ; had questions fired at me by young gentlemen, Mastermind-stylee, about details they would consider a woman to know nothing about. [Come on lads, just how simple is the question 'who is the guitarist in Gang of Four?'!! Andy Gill, to those of you who don't know.] Most importantly of all, my love of Sixties garage punk bands was what first made the connection between me and JJ.

Music informs me, teaches me, riles me and bankrupts me. It's the greatest love of all. If there's a memory, and there invariably is, there's a song to go with it. And that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Itchy Pop

Summer has finally arrived in Englandtown (as Arthur Lee would perhaps say). As is customary with the arrival of warm weather, I have broken out in a bizarre heat/allergic rash. ['So what do you write about in this blog thing then?' 'Hmmm. My ailments, mainly']

I went to see the fabulous Janice Connolly (otherwise known as Holy Mary in Phoenix Nights) do a show as her alter-ego Barbara Nice on Saturday with Young Radish. It was superb. **SPOILER ALERT!** She is definitely worth seeing, with or without the stage-diving to 'The Passenger'.

Last night I was at The Dirtbombs gig at 93 Feet East with JJ and Merv. It was fantastic. However, the evening was tainted rather by South West Trains' inability to run something as simple as a rail replacement bus service to *just three* suburban stations. The bastards. JJ paid for a cab and we got in at 1.30 this morning. We're both feeling somewhat ragged today.

Travel/skin irritations aside, it's peaceful here, if a little dull. Looking forward to food, allotment, and sleep.

Friday, June 17, 2005

Cat-house to art-house

A good pal of mine is leaving work today. We've been mates since the first company summer party I went to...we got chatting in the toilets of the O'Neills on the Euston Road (truly the best bit of a horrid place) about Danielle Dax. Lord knows how we got onto that topic - possibly it was because we both have dark hair/pale skin, a classic goth combo if ever there was one. It's going to be tough to see her go. Still, Oscar will benefit from seeing his Mum more. I can't begrudge the little fella that. I salute you, Mrs West!

Change and decay in all around I see. The Circus Beyond will be leaving soon. It'll be up to others like Young Radish to entertain me then. That's a terrible burden for him.

The other night some of the old guard gathered at the gastropub the Duke of Brackets to wish our friend Smudge well, prior to the imminent arrival of Smudge junior. The conversation turned to films, specifically which Hollywood stars we'd like to see playing us in a film of our working lives here (in both blockbuster and arthouse-style).

I came out lucky: my blockbuster actor was Janeane Garofalo (my own suggestion) and my arthouse girl Maggie Gyllenhaal (Smudge's suggestion).
H is to be portrayed by either Charlize Theron or Chloe Sevigny;
Lambo got Hugh Laurie and Tim Roth (a terribly relaxed man rendered edgy and dangerous - I'd love to see that!)
Smudge's casting was inspired: James Spader and Vincent Gallo. Particularly the latter.
DL was tough to cast but some of the choices were excellent: Basil Rathbone/the young David Niven or Philip Roth for the blockbuster, alongside John Tarturro for art DL.

I can't tell you our desired plotline, because I gather you're not supposed to be offensive about people in blogs. For those of you whom have worked with me, you'll recognise who I'm talking about. The movie centres around the grisly death of an annoying and misogynistic Studio supervisor (played by Vin Diesel/Philip Seymour Hoffman).

More soon. Enjoy this link to The Londonist in the meantime (at the insistence of my pal Merv - whom would like to be played by the ghost of Bill Hicks).

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Is this thing on?

On a whim, I have decided that I want to do what all the cool kids are doing and get myself one of them blog things. Typically, I haven't thought it through properly...I should have been more clever with the name of the blog and my sign-in name, yada yada. But then again, that's the story of my life: seeming a bit more clever than I actually am (and then being a bit thicker, thereby proving a disappointment).

I'll briefly explain - a favourite song of mine is 'I Want More' by Can. If you haven't heard it, beg/steal/borrow a copy. It'll make you leap with joy (it makes me leap with joy without fail). The deafdisco thing is partly a mis-spelt reference to the Public Image Limited song, but also tips a nod to my failing hearing. Years of gig-going, along with a genetic problem inherited from my Mum, are making me deaf.

Of course, if neither of these appear on the blog (owing to me being a blog newbie), I'm going to look like a right flapjack.

Next post: a discussion about the blockbuster/arthouse casting of the movie of my working life. Stay tuned...

i-want-more