bookmark_borderConcerts

I forgot one other thing that I promised myself this year. More concerts. I’m toying with going to see Ed Harcourt in February, already got tickets for R.E.M. at Loch Lomond (couldn’t NOT go as it’s my spiritual home) and then U2 announce their dates. I’d LOVE to see them again but £45 a ticket is a bit steep if you ask me.

Or is it? God, I just don’t know. Anyway it’s academic as I’m completely skint and the tickets will be gone by the time I have enough money for one.

bookmark_borderFebruary

New Year has long since passed but it’s only now that I’m going to start focussing on the year ahead. With being away in Spain earlier in the month, and our nephew turning 18 – celebratory dinner/pissup this weekend – we’ve not really been looking any further than the end of this month.

So what will 2005 hold? As ever the battle against the flab will be fought, although this year we are both determined in a way we’ve not been before. We both need to diet and both understand that you really need to have your head in the right place for a diet to work. Sure you can manage a week or three of controlled eating and exercise but all it takes is a minor event and you fall off the wagon (leaving a large dent in the road) and no matter how much you promise yourself you’ll “start again on Monday” you never do. I think, even though we’ve not really discussed it, we are both waiting until this weekend is over to start the diets – although I am tempted to dig out the elliptical trainer (yes yes, “my ellipses need trained” – it’s been done already!) on Wednesday so I can whir away the hours watching Man Utd vs Chelsea. We’ll see.

I guess I could claim to have initiated another aim – I setup my (musical) keyboard at the weekend. It’s been standing on it’s end for the last year, gathering dust and occasionally I was sure I could hear it whimpering (in Cminor). I’ve found a few sites where I can.. er.. acquire sheet music, and received a Jamie Cullum book for Christmas so.. really.. I’ve not got an excuse.

I also expect that I’ll discover even more new music this year and I’ll try and couple that with some more good books (note to self: get that list of ‘to be read’ done and get them stacked up!). We are also trying to get back into the ‘cinema’ habit as our UGC cards just ain’t paying for themselves at the moment.

There is more, of course, but I’ll keep that under my hat for the meantime (no I’m NOT trying to generate interest I just don’t wanna say here, m’kay?). So, roll on February 2005. I think I might just be ready for you.

bookmark_border(Knee) Jerks

BAN IT. CENSOR IT. HIDE IT AWAY. PRETEND WE ARE DOING SOMETHING.

Predictably enough, the politicians have started to bleat the above (paraphrased ever so slightly) in the wake of Luke Mitchell’s conviction. Seemingly the reason he killed Jodi Jones was because he listened to music. OK, he listened to Marilyn Manson which, whilst possibly questionable on grounds of taste, is unlikely to have driven him to murder no matter HOW bad the music was (have you listened to any of his album stuff, it’s only glam rock).

The talk is of either banning sales of certain titles or introducing a rating scheme in line with movies and video games.

I’ll let that sink in, shall I? Yes, our esteemed leaders think that slapping a label on a CD that contains “demonic imagery” will stop under 18s buying it, listening to it and wandering our streets with a bloodthirst. This is the same set of leaders who constantly remind us how “in touch they are with the people of Scotland”. Seemingly we are to complete that sentence ourselves with the unspoken but generally understood sentiment of “who are like us, not the general riff-raff though”.

Has it escaped their notice that many CDs DO already come with a parental advisory sticker. Granted it’s an American system but it’s usually very obvious and I’m sure that the parents who vet their children’s music will notice it.

Wait. I think I see the problem. Gosh, but they couldn’t say THAT could they? It couldn’t be partly the responsibility of the parents, could it? No it would be too much to ask that they have SOME idea of what their 14 year old son is doing? Of course it would. How silly of me.

And before anyone jumps on my head, yes I realise that being a parent is hard and you can’t monitor your children 100% of the time but every parent knows their child well enough to know when something isn’t right, whether they then want to admit that is a completely different question.

And remember, today is both the most depressing day AND the 70th anniversary of the beer can.

bookmark_borderMy Music Express

Prompted by this.

The last twelve months have seen me introduced to several new bands. So many, in fact, that I struggle to remember who sang what and which track I liked more than the other one. If I average out the number of bands I think it works out at around.. oh hang on, let’s do this properly.

Firstly a short explanatory disclaimer, or a history of my ‘new music discovery process’. In years gone by I relied heavily on commercial radio to bring me new artists. Be it the chart (when it was still good), John Peel (not as often as most though), or rare purchases of NME or Q magazine, it was a fairly shallow pool from which I pulled my music purchases. In the last four years or so, with the growth of MP3, downloadable music and the like, the influence of several musically focussed work colleagues – all of whom have a broader take on music than I – and I am experiencing an explosive growth in my scope of music which has all but overwhelmed me.

It’s brought quite a change to my musical tastes (some would say I now HAVE some taste) and whilst some of the bands I’m about to list will already be well known to you, they are all new to me.

Bands I have ‘discovered’ in the past twelve months: Interpol, The FutureHeads, The Killers, Erlend Øye, Lambchop, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Goldfrapp, Abraham, The Fiery Furnaces, Mylo, Liz Phair, Franz Ferdinand, The Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Radio 4, The Postal Service, Scissor Sisters, Gotan Project, Leftfield, Alias, Ed Harcourt, British Sea Power, Kanye West, The Go! Team, ChungKing, Amp Fiddler + the DJ Kicks and Back to Mine compilations.

Albums that I’ve enjoyed in addition to the all of the above: A Grand Don’t Come for Free, Medulla, Aha Shake Heartbreak, Uh Huh Her, Smile, Musicology.

Why am I listing all this? Well I’m just trying to capture my thoughts about the past twelve months and the huge growth in new music that I’ve experienced (new to me at any rate). The last time this happened was when I joined Hospital Radio Lennox and gained access to the record library there. That helped educate me in past music, exposing all manner of iconic musical figures and many more lesser known artists (and has since stood me in good stead in musical pub quizzes). I currently feel that I’m undergoing a new musical education, my horizons are stretching and rediscovering my love for music. I’m loving every minute of it. Now, where did I put that keyboard?

I already have some music pegged for this year: Bloc Party, LCD Soundsystem, new Chemical Brothers, and I’m still waiting for that Joanna Newsom CD to arrive. As ever, further listening suggestions are welcomed – you can take your cue from the artists listed above if you want some guidelines (or ignore them completely if you don’t). Have at it!

bookmark_borderBecause It's Friday: II

Once again, The Washington Post has published its annual word-definition contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for various words.

And the winners are:

1. Coffee (n.), a person who is coughed upon.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained. (!!)

3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach. (!!!)

4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.

6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n.), an olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.), the emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified demeanor assumed by a proctologist immediately before he examines you.

13. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddish expressions.

14. Pokemon (n), a Jamaican proctologist.

15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), the belief that when you die your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent (n.), the opening in the front of boxer shorts.