Tonight We’re Gonna Give it 35%

A lot of time has passed since the last entry and there are many things I’ve not written about that will probably now be lost to the mists of crap memory.

A short list of events I haven’t mentioned;

• The wrapping up of film 2009, though I did post a note on Facebook
• The OLL Christmas party. Probably the less said about that the better.
• Going to the physio (pain)
• Getting lost in the Pentlands and managing to 20km in three hours
• RROD
• The plan to sell the comics

That’s enough for now. Hopefully by exorcising a bunch of stories I wanted to tell but haven’t gotten around to it’ll free my brain to actually write things down as they happen.

A Day Late

So I had Christmas Day a day late. As anyone who knows me will know, this didn’t perturb me in the slightest as I can’t really be arsed with the whole thing but I could definitely have done without the splitting migraine which I got as a present. Thankfully my family decided to just leave me sparked out in bed rather than attempt to gee me up with any kind of seasonal spirit.

Therefore, for me, Boxing Day became Christmas day. As with almost any reasonably inclusive family gathering I found myself keep almost silent for fear of saying something that would upset. The fault would likely be all my own if I did as I have a habit of resorting to sarcasm. However, Emma remained a useful distraction as always so the spotlight was rarely turned on me.

All going to plan I’ll head back down the road tomorrow. Much as I’d quite like to chat to family (in small groups), the last few weeks of December have left me knackered which is probably partly to blame for my invalid turn yesterday. The lure of getting more acquainted with the new sofa in my lounge and reducing the pile of unplayed games and unread books. Maybe even some running in the snow.

Negativity

I haven’t written anything for a while. Not for a lack of things to write about, I’ve just been buzzing about like a blue-arsed fly for a few weeks. So, a few retrospective posts over the next few days should sort things out.

A few week’s ago the second podsmash of Sonic’s Clear Wank was recorded. It was an absolute blast and since Perrin hasn’t finished editing it all together I haven’t heard the end result. Can’t blame him since the recording took about three hours.

Before we did that though, those of us in the Sonic’s Ring contingent had to record a very short piece for The Game Reviews. Frankly, I really didn’t enjoy that part nearly so much as the subject was the “Most Overhyped Game of 2009”. I’m not sure you could get a more significant piece of negative journalism as it led directly to us taking a great game and pretending it wasn’t as good as the hype suggested. To be honest, I hope our segment gets dropped.

Continuing in the podcast theme, the Edinburgh Zombie Club recorded their first one last week. I’ve just finished editing it together into something coherent and sent it out to those involved for a stamp of approval. I’m hoping we can manage one a month between movie nights. Next time though we’ll need to be careful not to talk over each other so much, do so much monologuing or eat snacks and crack open cans. It’s a start though.

If the sentences above read like a 5 year old wrote them it’s because for Christmas I got a migraine and it’s still hanging around.

Folk it

Friday night saw me digging out the old recording equipment (and trialling some new bits as well) as I’d been asked to record The Mannequins EP launch night. I hadn’t seen any of the guys in ages and hadn’t used the gear for a long time either so it was good to catch up with both. The mics should be getting some more use next week at the inaugural Edinburgh Zombie Club Podcast recording. Quite how shambolic that turns out remains to be heard.

So, naturally, Friday night involved a few pints so I slept in a bit on Saturday morning. I seem ptogrammed to wake up at 9:30 on weekends. Normally I’d be annoyed and try to get up earlier, but since I average only about six hours a night during the week I figure my body knows what it needs. I got piss all done during the day but that didn’t bother me much since I was off to see the folk supergroup Lau in the evening.

I’ve only seen Lau once before but they’re firmly cemented as one of my favourite live acts. They took the roof off the place with a stunning rendition of Horizontigo and that was only the second track. Amazingly, they upped the ante further and never let up for a second.

Adding to my vinyl collection I picked up a copy of Live on orange vinyl. Beautiful so it is. The acoustic arguments aside, the aesthetics of vinyl far outweigh that of any other media. The only problem with Live is that it has neither Horizontigo or The Burrian which are both on Arc Light. Ah well, guess I’ll just have to re-buy that as well.

Adventures In Hi-Fi

Not, not an R.E.M. reference but instead a nod to my latest hi-fi purchase.

I actually picked it up a little over a month ago but I’m been slacking on the blogging so fuck off. I’ve been meaning to add a turntable to my hi-fi for a decade now. You can tell by the fact that I specifically bought an amp with a phono stage back in 1999. I finally have something to plug into it.

None of your new stuff though, this thing is almost as old as me. Bought from Hi-Fi corner on Leith Walk 25 years ago by Dave in the office it’s served him and his family well until now and now it’ll do me for a good long time to come. I missed a trick though, apparently if he’d heard I was after a turntable a week earlier I’d have had it for free. Unfortunately he googled and found it’s something of a collector’s item. That didn’t stop him selling it to me for a song!

I’ve been really enjoying the few records I have over on this side of the country but I knew the needle was worn and a couple of discs were skipping. Tonight that’s all fixed though. A quick stop at the same store it was bought from and I came away with a new new needle and cartridge as well as the requisite knowledge to get it setup properly.

All the tutorials I’d read and tried to follow about setting the weight on the arm were as nothing next to a thirty second demonstration. The owner of the shop took me through a number of tables with various high end additions but none of it was sales speak. He was clearly just interested in showing off what was possible often dismissing what he was about to show me with a “You don’t need this but just look”. The silicon gel filled arm rest was something else.

Fitting the new cartridge was a doddle and it took seconds to get the weight fixed. Now none of the records skip and it’s borderline silent between tracks (the borderline only being noticeable if I put my head next to the speaker).

One of my favourite albums of all time, Workingman’s Dead, is filling my room with sonic wonder.

Not Much To Say

Another quiet weekend in which I get very little exercise. Going to head into that new gym on the way home tomorrow and sign myself up as it’s the only way I’m going to be able to work off the shite food I eat most of the time.

I tried fiddling about with different audio recording setups before this week’s podcast recording but, sadly, audio in Linux remains in its infancy it seems. Or maybe it’s just that way when Skype’s involved. Closed source software causing issues on an open source system. le sigh.

I’m expecting a rude text or email from Scott at some point. He’s signed up for Facebook so if he takes a look in my info he might well find this place. I’ve never denied the blog, I simply don’t talk about it.

/me waves

Typical

It’s been pissing it down with rain for the last couple of days which, coupled with feeling really less than great has meant I’ve not done any exercise of note since Sunday. Given all that it seems typical that as I look out the window at the moment the rain has stopped and the wind died down. Just after I’ve eaten a large meal. I want to go out and run but know from experience it’ll be a horrible experience which I’ll regret.

Sad to say but I reckon I’m going to have to join a gym if I want to keep my hand in with some reasonably enjoyable exercising over the winter. This is normally when I slack off but if I want to be in a reasonable shape to tackle the Heb next year then keeping up a regimen is important. If I joined one of the gyms in Dunfermline I’d probably never go, but one has opened up outside the back steps of Waverley station which I would have to walk past twice a day. Nice and handy for either morning or evening sessions.

New light! After failing to be able to distinguish between path and ditch while in the Pentlands the other week, I decided to get something with a few more lumens to its name. Behold my new Exposure Joystick. Even if I don’t get into the hills for a little while I intend to take it out onto the b-roads of Fife and Perthshire to give it a trial in the next few days.

At Least It Wasn’t Earlier

November rumbles on. As usual I took a few days off to avoid working on my birthday and so had a two day week last week. Tuesday night was JoCo gig number two through in Glasgow where MrCadbury and I got…shitfaced. This made Wednesday a bit of a damp squib. However, I struggled up at a reasonable hour, downed a pint of Nuun’d up water and felt not too bad considering. Managed a trip to Tesco in the afternoon to pick up a copy of MW2 and completely failed to cope with playing it for more than an hour. Curry in the evening and then an early night.

Thursday brought little of note. I went to my local bike shop (I’m ashamed of how little I’ve used that place given that it’s 200m from my front door) and picked up two semi-slick tyres for the bike. Not being hugely adept at changing tyres it took me ninety minutes to get them on though this did include noticing they were the wrong way around and having to reverse them (more on that later). I also managed to puncture both the front and rear tubes but hey, it’s a learning experience. Went to see Harry Brown in the evening so that I had a film to talk about in the next Sonic’s Ring.

Friday brought the Ikea joy. Unfortunately, Ikea joy was delayed by an hour due to a wreck on the highway so I was even more ratty than I would normally be in that place. However, we made it out alive so Dad and I started work on constructing my new wardrobe. Only been three years in this flat, it’s not like that’s a long time to be without basic furniture.

November’s music going continued in the evening with Colin Hay in Edinburgh. It was at The Caves which is a hell of an echoey venue. I can’t imagine it being any good for full band gigs. Sadly, the gig was populated with many many twats who thought that talking was part of a good gig atmosphere. There was a couple two rows in front of me, the girl seemed unable to pass thirty seconds without talking to her other half despite numerous “ssshhhh“s from the crowd. Despite that, it was a great gig from a man who appears completely comfortable being in a dialogue with the crowd.

On Saturday, I got soaked. Went out to try the new tyres properly (and realised they had been round the right way the first time so were now round the wrong way) and at the furthest point from home the heavens opened. Made it back home looking like a drowned rat and unable to feel my toes. Dried off, warmed up and recorded a new podcast. Just Dave & I since Iain’s mic was on the fritz.

Sunday; cyclocross. Got up, changed the tyres round and headed to Inverkeithing for a cyclocross event. Apparently, cyclocross means trying to pedal through mud for an hour. Talking to other people there other events aren’t as muddy as that. Certainly, it felt like an act of attrition trying to complete the circuit. It also meant that I struggled to get the bike clean when I got home. Then the sick set in. I washed the bike, ate and then woke up on the sofa having wrapped myself in a towel for a blanket. This was rather confusing given I had no memory of lying down.

A quick check of my general faculties revealed I had no energy whatsoever to make it to the Tegan & Sara gig that night so I was glad I hadn’t picked up a ticket yet. Climbed into bed at nine which meant I’d been upright for only about ten hours on Sunday.

Woke this morning to stomach cramps and aching muscles all over. Tried to force down breakfast anyway and was heading out the door when I caught a look at myself in the mirror. At that point it made a lot more sense to head back to bed than inflict the grimacing hunchback on my workmates.

At least it wasn’t during my holidays.

Month of Music

This month seems to be all about the gigging.

On Friday I nipped through to Glasgow to watch Yo La Tengo at the ABC. I own about half a dozen YLT albums but I’ve never managed to get into them all that much. It’s great background music but if you asked me to him a tune I wouldn’t be able to. I’m still not sure I could do that, but after seeing them live I have a much better appreciation for what they’re about.

Beautifully crisp, clear bass riffs came booming out of the stage and were the backbone of some stunning guitar wailing. Really epic music that leapt between styles all night. We got some feedback heavy rock ‘n’ roll, doo-wop, straight up jazz, slowcore and some amazing crescendos.

I bumped into Calum of Meursault (and ex-HMV pal) at that gig and found out that they were having a single launch party at the Bowery on Saturday night. I haven’t seen the guys play in about a year and they sound very different. Much, much tighter with some astonishing drumming from Fraser. They were supported by Neil’s other band, Withered Hand, who were incredible. Given the folk-punk kick I’m on at the moment they really did it for me. Must pick up the album. The third band on the line-up was Jesus H Lizard whom I’d never heard of before but, again, a really great sound came from the front. I couldn’ t see anything so just closed my eyes and marvelled at the harmonies.

Sunday was always going to be special. Sunday was JoCo day number one! I laughed so hard, I arrred! like a pirate and I mumbled my zombie chorus. Brilliant! And I’m off to see him again tomorrow. Huge success!

Cos I said I would

I spent yesterday at Chen Yingjun’s tai-chi seminar and I’d have to say I’ve never known such pain. The posture correction sections were a revelation. With just a slight correction we’d be placed in a position that was clearly correct but that put incredible strain on leg muscles. It was amusing to see sweat break out in an instant on a person’s forehead.

As seems to be the way, I’d arranged to something else on the second day of the seminar and this time my intention was to either get out on the bike or do some decent running. There was also the small matter of going to see Dananananaykroyd in the evening. During downtime on Saturday we were chatting about what I could do today and I decided it would be on foot and it would be some off-road running.

Not wanting to go too far, I opted to head for the Lomonds and take in both West and East summits. Unfortunately, the weather had something against that and it was blowing a gale while lashing down for a couple of hours after I got up. However, I decided that shouldn’t stop me so I set off anyway.

Sad to say, I only managed the first summit. As I crested West Lomond the wind really picked up and I didn’t even pause at the trig point. Once over the summit I tried to contour round to see if East was a possibility. The driving wind and rain coupled with 20 metre visibility turned me back.

Lunch at the Pillars of Hercules was lovely as always. Since there were no seats inside I sat under the porch, wrapped in a fetching red blanket.

I decided to skip the gig. I was feeling quite tired and really didn’t fancy driving into the centre of Glasgow, making my way out to Oran Mor, watching a double support act gig and then driving back across. Starting the week on precious little sleep isn’t the best way to go about things.

Ah well, I’m sure I’ll see them at some point in the futre.