Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Saturday Night Fever

And now for something completely different. Freshly and repeatedly reminded by the many splendours of Strictly Come Dancing, I find myself increasingly getting the urge to return to the dance floor. Learning to dance is undoubtedly the hardest thing I've ever done and still stuck with despite finding myself anything but a natural. Well, just how much expressive latin rhythm do you reckon an uptight white boy from the south coast of England starts off with? Several years of weekly salsa meant I ended up with more grooves than a box of vinyl records, but I'd be lying if I said it was easy. So, lest I forget, and as reminder to myself to get to it, here are my dancing shoes, complete with not to be worn outside smooth soles for easy spinning on the spot.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Hair Dos, Don'ts And Undecideds

Here's a couple of views showing two variants of the same thing - my attempts to see what help I can give my natural hair. In the first, you can see my unwashed hair, and in the second you can see it freshly washed and blow-dried. There's a pretty clear difference in how well the colour matching of the synthetic hair works, depending on the state of my own. It's the same synthetic shade in both cases, and I think that in the second it's not a bad match at all. To be honest, this whole thing is something I find quite difficult even owning up to, never mind discussing, which is why the link to here has conveniently disappeared from my poster-profile somewhere else for a day or two. I'm under no illusions about the natural inevitability that my hairline faces, and for the most part it doesn't bother me, but when I'm spending this much time and effort on my hair and I'm still not satisfied, it's time for some serious thinking. Not because I'm desperate to have the best hair in the world, but because I really don't want to have rubbish hair. And I'm no longer convinced that my hair on its own is enough to go with a dress or skirt outfit in a way that I'm happy with.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

I've been going through some stuff to dig out some of my other snow pictures to put somewhere else. And having got very cold fingers dealing with a puncture this morning (and having another to deal with shortly) I was reminded of how the true delights of winter commuting await me. This two shots are from a route I don't use much these days, but provide a picturesque illustration of why I ought to think about reverting to that route soon instead of mixing it with drivers on the icy roads. But while I am out there, I need to make sure I'm seen, and I like this picture for its confirmation that I'm not invisible from the back.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Mirror, Mirror

Someone's described me as being 'blog-active' and having a strong 'blog drive' which got me thinking about what the difference is between this and the many other places I'm to be found talking about stuff on the net. I'm a natural archivist, a record-keeper, a diary-maker, all those things come easily to me. A long time ago I realised that the discipline of articulating thoughts onto paper or in this case cyber-paper is a healthy way of working things out of my system instead of leaving them to fester. The best I can say is that it's not a bad reflection of how I get on with people in general - in other places where conversation is subject led, whether it's cycling, or music in general, or individual bands in particular, or football, or anything else, everything's usually pretty straightforward. But I'm not so good in a group or in wider general conversation, and it usually takes me some time to feel comfortable enough with people to join in, so I suppose this is my chance to speak up on my own terms; at any time, I'm happy to answer a question if I possibly can, but I guess I'm less happy assuming people are interested in the first place, or unable to tell when they are. Which can make me seem stand-offish, and hard to get close to, and that's often a self-reinforcing barrier. So this is just me at my most open and honest, talking about anything and everything, whatever I'm up to and whatever's on my mind, including the hair and make up stuff that I may be not quite so keen to discuss with everyone I know. But everyone who finds their way here is welcome, and in return for your visiting the least I can do is say that any question is fair game - thanks for your time.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Skylines, Hairlines, Deadlines?

I woke up one morning this week to find I could suddenly see the skyline out of my bedroom window, which means the trees beyond my garden have all shed enough leaves that they no longer form an effective screen between me and the big hill. In a tangentially connected set of events, aided by technology and a series of comments from different sources, I've reached the point where I'm forced to concede that while on the one hand I'm comfortable enough with the natural passage of time and the inevitabilities that come with it, it would be short-sighted to ignore the potential benefits of a little assistance. So while in practical terms the fact my hairline is now some way above my eyebrows means that short of getting a desperate looking fringe cut in, what hair I have is easily controlled and managed, I'm now seriously investigating my options. And expecting something to turn up in the post at some point this week. And deadlines? Well, there isn't one really, it's more a case of see what it takes to find out where I'm comfortable.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Catching Up

Ok, so I'm a few days behind. I'm now also a couple of glasses of cava down, so I reserve the right to come back and edit or remove this at a later time :-) But briefly, friday saw me make a nice transportly-challenged trip to London to go and see the Frank And Walters playing their first show in England in a number of years - for a moment or two it was 1993 again, and they were great. I'm surprised to find I hadn't seen them more than three times back in the mists of time, so they obviously left a good impression as I wouldn't have missed this show for anything. Saturday saw glorious morning sunshine through western central London, and fortunately I was just smart enough to avoid entering the traffic madness of Twickenham on a rugby day. Through a series of things that mostly didn't quite go as planned, I failed to make it to a social event that would have allowed me to make the most of my wardrobe, but no matter - it's really not the end of the world. Sunday? Well, an afternoon gig is an interesting thing I've not encountered before. When you see a guy in a suit and tie, in a trilby and nonchalantly smoking while playing an electric double bass, you know the intended visual effect is some arty late 1950s Parisian jazz cafe. Late at night in a rammed sweaty club it seems vaguely appropriate for what it's aimed at being, but at 1.30pm on a sunday when the streets outside are full of early xmas shoppers it seems utterly bizarre. And it's certainly not my preferred style of music anyway. You may well see them in the top forty come sunday, and The Pipettes would be a welcome addition to the nation's hit parade. Polka dots in a 50s circle skirt style, three women singers with some great hand jiving and still not quite as stage school rehearsed into perfection as yer average girl band. Think the Shirelles by way of Helen Love and you are not far away - tremendous stuff, love it. Life-affirming upbeat uptempo shallow pop music at its finest. Enough catching up, and enough cava!

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Friday, November 11, 2005

Happy Shopper

Looks like just another tie front cardigan, right? Even if I'm shopping for, say, a new album by a band I love on the day it's released, I'll still go round every record shop in town to check that it's in stock everywhere and how it's priced before walking back to whichever shop had it cheaper. And I don't believe I have ever walked in somewhere, had something catch my eye and make me think 'oh, I'll have that!' to the point where I almost turned round and picked one up to head for the till. It would seem fair to suggest my occasional difficulties with shopping seem to be evaporating rapidly these days, and this and other internet places where such things exist just as things rather than as *special*big*deal* things have made a big difference to that. So thanks! The detail below may show the discrete sparkle in the thread a little bit better - it was definitely that little twinkle that caught my eye as I walked by it. Took me by surprise, I can tell you, but definitely a pleasant surprise.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Alice, What's The Matter? Nothing.

If ever there was a gig where less than immaculate make up mattered any less than when Dee Snider and Alice Cooper are appearing on the same stage, I can't imagine it. So four shades of eye shadow later and a quick slick of mascara - because powder coated lashes in pastel colours is a step into wrongness too far - I hit the venue just in time to catch the second half of Twisted Sister's first song. Even without the logo backdrop, there's nobody else that it could possibly be! Allegedly Snider's just turned 50, but he runs around with all the energy of a five year old, but ten times the volume. TS were never the most sophisticated band, so there's a risk their big dumb schlock-rock could not have aged very well. And musically they remain unsophisticated, but the key thing is the attitude behind it and that hasn't aged at all. They go to great lengths to reminisce about their first show in the UK, supporting Motörhead way back in the mists of time at Wrexham's football ground, and when they later point out that it's the entire original TS line-up not some lame two original members and a bunch of session musos grouping, this seems like not just a nostalgia exercise. For all the TS chat with the crowd - and over a 75 minute set including encore, that's a lot of chat - there's next to nothing from Alice. There's a line in a song changed to refer to the city early in the set, and a 'thank you Cardiff!' at the end, but otherwise it's the slickest, most efficiently choreographed, professional display I've seen in some time, but it has a slight feeling that it could be anywhere at any time. It's more of a touring play where the script is set in solid rock than anything else. But with that many great songs to fit in, he's got a point. I'm not a major Alice fan, but this time I came away having seen a great show. The Be My Frankenstein/Welcome To My Nightmare/Only Women Bleed section builds up nicely to the guillotine stunt, even if you can see exactly how it's done, and the straitjacket is merely one of a huge number of props and costume changes - you get an awful lot of production for your money. And where the Crüe blew almost all of it on pyro, Alice has got the whole damn thing knocked into a top hat. * and if you really want to rock, there's nothing quite like a post-gig trip to the all night supermarket to show off your slightly sweat-bled purple eye shadow and wake up bored night-time till staff!

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Sunday, November 06, 2005

The Singer And The Song

Nanci Griffith reckons people are born knowing Tom Paxton songs, and I think the same is probably true of Jimmy Webb. There's almost a Dylan-esque 'oh shit, that was one of his too' thing when you hear him tell about writing 'Up, Up and Away' when he was nineteen and getting chucked out of music college. He says himself he's at that stage in the tour where his voice not entirely at its 100% rested best, and it does show when he makes up for not hitting the higher notes with a slightly strained approximation of them - as with Dylan, perhaps the songwriting is sometimes stronger than the vocal talent. That said, he's happy enough to admit to being 59 years of age, and he's packed more than one lifetime's living into those 59 years, and there's plenty of evidence of that in the many celebrity friends about whom he tells stories over the course of the evening. I learnt a couple of things about how I relate to music too, largely due to JW accompanying himself on the piano only. I can recognise technical expertise when I hear it, even if it's not what I want out of something, and because there's only him and his piano, JW shows off his ability to work his way round the keys, almost bordering on what sounds to me like jazz improv at times. And it's only when he starts picking out the vocal melody line on the piano in both Wichita Lineman and MacArthur Park that I start to understand how something works for me. My ear is so unsophisticated and untrained, that I haven't got more than than the vaguest idea of how a chord or a chord progression works. I mean, if I stop and think about it then I can find its place in the workings of a song, but since I'm listening primarily to melody lines that float on top of everything rather than the underlying structure, it's no surprise that it never really hits me in the ear, and in the gut. For a good example of what really gets my juices flowing, you need look no further than Tony Peluso's guitar solo in the Carpenters' 'Goodbye To Love' - I can only describe it as some sort of melodic sweetspot, probably over-developed by listening to too much Everly Brothers harmony vocals and the like as a kid! Never too old to learn, so as with salsa teaching me to hear drums better, I've got something other than the songs to thank Jimmy Webb for.

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Saturday, November 05, 2005

Full Moon, Half Moon, Total Eclipse

Ok, so I'm biased. But Ange Dolittle remains one of the greatest frontmen you've never heard of, and I wish he hadn't got lured into the real job trap and would do a few more gigs, but that's just being selfish. Nevertheless, he's a) a great bloke and b) a tremendous singer. It's not the greatest show I've seen Dolittle (the four piece band - vocals, bass, acoustic guitar and drum machine) do, but it's always a pleasure.

Miles Hunt is an inveterate gobshite, and on this occasion the one we'd paid to see. I've concluded it's the price you pay for The Wonder Stuff currently being a going concern that shows like this bring out the sort of braindead folks who should have their tongues removed at birth.

So Miles talks a lot, tells a lot of stories, and minute for minute the song/story mix is pretty close to 50:50 - great to hear background information which gives newer songs another dimension as you get to know them, and to have gaps filled in behind songs you've lived with for years. there was more newer stuff than I'd have predicted, so even for a 3am homecoming, it was great stuff.

Friday night, well, there was a gig I could have gone to, but I spent the money on a new bin for my kitchen and some flowers, and I've just put another bottle in the recycling. Nights off have to be squeezed in somewhere.

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Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Second Time Around

Last night was the second time I've seen The Posies this year, but the first in a non-festival own gig situation.

They were quite outstanding in a way I can't begin to do justice to here, but to give an impression of just how far beyond the ordinary they were, it's enough to say that it's the only time I've seen Darth Vader playing air guitar this year.

* I've since been told by someone who knows what the before look was like, that my hair does appear to have become just a little lighter so I can only assume the spray that was put on prior to blow-drying it had some effect in the heat. I've never yet colour treated my hair, but the idea has recently crossed my mind for the first time, so I'm ruling nothing out!

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