Give a Tree a Home for Christmas

I have, so you should too.

Went up Streatham High Road to get a tree from the tried and trusted Christmas Tree Shop near Streatham Hill Station. Picked a nice 6' one, lots of branches to hang things on and then got the bus home (a few people smiled to see the tree getting a bus home which was quite sweet).

Then spent hours this afternoon dressing it so it looks its best. And I finally opened all the baubles and toys I got in New York and even from the All-Year Christmas Shop in Toronto from back in February this year. They still had price-tags on. Some of my favourites are my Rockette's bauble from the Radio City Music Hall shop (with a small Rockette in a red glittery Santa outfit sitting on top of a red bauble), my stripey glass globe from Toronto and the little ginger-bread house from Macy*s in New York that reminds me of Barcelona. Nice! For the first time, they're all on the tree.

And here it is in all it's glory!

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel

After months of waiting, finally the day arrives, the day I finally get to see Steve Harley after 30 odd years. Unfortunately he's playing Shepherds Bush, but I can get over that. I make sure I've got the tickets before leaving for work, nothing can go wrong today...

And, of course, it does. A shit day at work doesn't set me up right for a night of musical fun but I'm going to enjoy it. The plan for enjoyment slightly fades when we queue behind a group of drunken middle aged men to get in. It fades even more when we get onto the hall floor and everyone seems drunk. The demographic is definietly middle-aged white men. Most of whom seem to have had several pints before arriving and then continue to drink. And how come they're all so tall? Why do people turn up to concerns only to talk amongst themselves - there's a show on, y'know! Half-way through a fight nearly started which the security guys ignored and left to the respective wives/gfs to sort out and escort the menfolk out...

I couldn't actually see Mr Harley so after a few songs we moved to the back of the hall and up a few steps to the bar so we could see over the audience a bit - even there we couldn't see much.

But Steve's stage-craft is what puzzles me. Or lack of it. Why open the set with a relatively quiet acoustic song from the new album that few in the audience seemed to recognise. Then bounce into 'Here comes the sun' - that should've been first, people knew it and it made the drunks shut up for a few minutes. The sound quality was pretty dire - when Steve spoke to the audience I couldn't actually hear him. Didn't he know that? Or did he just not factor in his demographic talking to each other.

I'm terribly disappointed, particularly since Chris didn't want to go but felt obliged. Not a fun night at all. Why play so many slow, quiet songs when the audience is so rowdy?

At least he did 'Coast of Amalfi' (my favourite from the new album), 'Sebastian (from his first album) and 'Make me Smile' (yes, you know it!).

We left at the start of the enchore - enough is enough really. I'd like to see him again, at a proper concert hall and without a drunk audience.

Farewell 159

Today was the last day that the Routemaster 159 runs. It travels between Streatham Common Station and Marble Arch (it used to go on to Notting Hill). I've been getting it for 15 years so it's very familiar to me. The route - the 159 - continues, but it won't be the Routemaster bus that does it. Now it's an ordinary bus like any other across London or the country as a whole.

It was quite odd this morning, with bus geeks upstairs who'd obviously travelled down to Streatham Station to be on the last bus - white, middle-aged men with loud voices. I deliberately left home for work late this morning so I could enjoy a last ride up to Westminster but no, they have to join in the occasion. It was also odd to see so many (again, middle-aged and above) men taking photos at every other bus stop all the way up into town - there were a few women, but very few. I took a few crap photos with my phone camera of the bus I rode on - I'm sure there are lots of excellent photos around but this is my bus and my pics.

Farewell my 159.

Survived

Well, I survived my trip to Manchester - didn't really see much of Manchester, though, since it was dark, cold and raining when I arrived on Wednesday night and I was rushing to catch a train when I left this afternoon.

I did the speech and took part in the panel discussion - the speech was OK, I think, by my standards - nothing to look forward to but I don't feel as if I humiliated myself, so that's a plus. I always feel happier doing panels than speeches - happy to answer questions and take part in a discussion, but speeches are a different thing altogether, where you need to engage with the audience, take them on an aural journey and leave them somewhere different to the place you started from. That requires thought and preparation and that's what I always fall down on!

Still, I did it! Don't want to do it again in a hurry - lots of scope for improvement, but I'm pleased I did it.

Manchester

I'm off to Manchester tomorrow evening to do a talk on Thursday morning about home access to computers for kids. Does that sound thrilling? The awkward part is that I haven't drafted my speech yet and I'm in a meeting (yawn) most of tomorrow...O woe is me. The organisers keep asking when I can let them have the powerpoint presentation that supports my talk ... I need to know what I'm talking about first really ...

O dear. Will this all go tits up?

I've never been keen on public speaking but accepted this invitation in part as a test for myself - can I do it? It must be 2 or 3 years since I last did any significant speechifying and it's an increasingly important skill that I need to acquire so I thought I'd use this as a test to see if I ought to go for proper training or whether I can blag it. That might not actually be the best reason in the world to accept a speaking engagement...

A New-Look Blog

Here's my new-look blog with added links and bits down the side where I've played round with the coding and got it to do what I want - ok, hardly that difficult but a real achievement for me!

It's a simpler design than the previous layout but I'm not sure about the colour and I couldn't find anywhere to change the colour of the text. I can change the colour of the text in the 'posting' area, of course, but it's the colour of the text in the title and sidebars I want to change. I think this looks better than the previous one, but let's see if it grows on me.

What do you think?

UPDATE: I've played around with the template and the colour codes and I have, indeed, found out how to change the colour of different bits of text! I am quietly proud of myself. I didn't want to go too overboard in using colours, so I've just changed the main title colours ... at least to start off with!

I am blessed

Not only do I get a magnificent S L A D E DVD on Monday, but today I picked up two (count 'em, TWO) Buffy Sainte-Marie DVDs! The light of righteousness is shining brightly!

Of course, when I say 'Buffy DVDs' I mean she's in them. Not for long, but she's in them!

The best one is 'Festival', a compilation of the Newport Folk Festival over 1963-66 and features a range of people including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Donovan, Johnny Cash, Staple Singers, Pete Seeger, Peter,Paul & Mary and loads of people I've never heard of. And Buffy who's looking mighty fine and young. She sings 'Cod'ine', her song about drug addiction that's been recorded by people ranging from Donovan to The Charlatans and most recently by Courtney Love (not a very good version). I'm very pleased with it.

The other DVD is less satisfactory - 'Tower of Song - an epic story of Canada and its music' - a Canadian TV programme about its musical Hall of Fame. Buffy's in it for a couple of minutes, mainly footage from her induction into the Hall of Fame and some footage of her on a reservation (possibly a pow wow festival). She's not interviewed at all - she probably couldn't see the point of it.

I like her Hall of Fame acceptance speech - she reels off all these funny names of (what I assume are) real small towns in Canada, much to the audience's amusement, and then she points out that people who live in these odd-named places way beyond the flashy lights of the ceremony and the cities appreciate the music of people present and are artists in their own right and that she goes out to see them and play to them... presumably implying that the others don't. The footage then ends so we don't see or hear how the assembled dignitaries react to her subtle comments about them and the implication that the 'real' people don't get a very good deal.

That's wor Buffy!

S L A D E Day!

After months of waiting, at last it's S L A D E Day!

Accompanied by Chris (in case I got too emotional), we took the long trek to the HMV shop on Oxford Street, having dismissed Virgin as having crap windows insufficiently glam to host the sacriment of a SLADE DVD. Walked into HMV and turned right to look at the 'new' racks and what did I see? O yes! There, on the bottom shelf, was the DVD and a bit further down the row was the CD, again on the bottom shelf. Hopefully they'll both work their way up the shelves hierarchy as people buy them as the week progresses into more prominent places, but I'm pleased they were on the 'new' shelves at all (so many don't make it).

Having been patient all day, I make it home, slip in the DVD and curl up on the couch to worship at the shrine of SLADE and I wasn't disappointed. About two thirds of the DVD is the old 'Wall of Hits' video from the '90s, followed by the 'Set of Six' live set and then another six TV show appearances for different singles not already covered. I love it! Particularly the live set - that shows what a great band SLADE were, working the audience, energetic, the three front-men bounding over the stage and putting on a show without fancy lighting or tricks - they did it for real! And seeing the clothes... o dear! But who cares? It was fun at the time and would be again!

The CD is also excellent, with the big hits on Disc 1 (mainly from the '70s, of course, but 3 biggies from the '80s as well) and lesser hits and rareties (such as an excellent version of 'Born to Be Wild' from Reading 1979) on Disc 2. The joy is overflowing. The CD booklet includes some good photos of SLADE at their peak and the sleeve notes are almost an extended homage to Chas Chandler, their manager who died in the mid '90s. That's a lovely gesture. Chas was a member of the Animals in the '60s and managed Jimi Hendrix, so he knew class when he saw and heard it.

I'm very pleased with the DVD and CD - I've waited long enough for them! But, naturally, I want more. I want the rumoured 'SLADE ALIVE!' DVD to be issued NOW and I want a CD of the 'B' sides please. Pretty please? That's not too much to ask is it? After all, I believe in miracles...

A Lad Insane

How foolish am I? What have I been missing?

I've picked up 'Aladdin Sane' in record shops and put it down again thinking, 'not yet' times beyond count. There are some CDs that ought to be in every collection (or at least the collection of anyone who lived in the '70s) and this is one of them, but you don't have to have them all now.

I ordered it on Amazon last week and picked it up from the Post Office this morning - wow what an album! Not a duff track on it! I was bouncing round the room to 'Panic in Detroit' earlier (not sensible for someone with a dodgy back) and now I'm playing it again. Haven't heard that song in xx decades! "I wish someone would phone... I screamed and smashed my favourite slot machine...". Other classics on this record have been included in various compilations over the years, but not 'Panic' and I lurve it! Wonderful drumming and soaring vocals with a background sense of menace - great track indeed.

Now, obviously, I have the vinyl (in my Dad's attic) - didn't we all get this record in the '70s? I think I prefer it to 'Ziggy' (which I've had on CD for yonks) so I'm not quite sure why I didn't get this as well until today. It's a more mature and confident record with a fuller sound. I am a happy bunny.

Oh, and while I'm in 70s mode (again) my S L A Y E D badge finally arrived yesterday. I will wear it on Monday when I go to HMV to demand 'The Very Best of SLADE' CD and DVD from the first sales person I see. I am a happy bunny indeed!

The Golden Age of Hustlers Returns

Went to see Justin Bond and the Freudian Slippers this evening at Too2Much and thoroughly enjoyed it, particularly the Bambi Lake songs and the chatting inbetween songs. He should record it - a great selection of songs including Kate Bush's 'King of the Mountain' and three early Bowie songs. Even got part of Marianne Faithfull's 'Why'd Ya Do It' in during the enchore (I suspect some people didn't know the song since there was a bit of giggling at the rude words...).

My favourites were the Bambi Lake songs, all excellent, all slightly dribbling bodily fluids and drugs, beautiful people gone to the dogs and transvestitism and drugs creating a haze around the lyrics. I particularly liked 'The Golden Age of Hustlers', a glamourously sad tale. I blogged about Bambi and her world a few months ago after I saw his previous show at the Soho Theatre - for some reason those songs do it for me!

The Princess was, of course, right up front and I admired her tie...

Too2Much is an interesting venue, full of skinny people (both staff and punters) with little spatial sense or awareness of anyone except themselves. Most odd. Not as odd as the New York punk night at the Great Eastern a couple of years ago, but odd nonetheless. I just can't understand why so many people needed to go to the toilet during Justin's set - it's not that long really. And in some cases the same guys went two or three times... has something happened to the bladders of men under 35? Perplexed by that!

And before that went for nosh with Chris to Melati (lovely Indonesian food) - it passed my vegetarian choice test with flying colours.