108th
Dec

I solved my previous dilemma and just went ahead and ordered the lens. It was a good price for it and I didn’t want to get to Christmas and have to spend £100 more for a new one. I’ll just have to cope with being a bit poorer this month. It should be arriving in the next few days and I’m keen to try it out.

Last night was the Patrick Wolf gig at the Bloomsbury Ballroom. I was especially looking forward to this as I had a ticket for his Bush Hall gig in the summer, but decided not to attend due to tiredness and travelling to Scotland the next morning. I’d never been to the venue either, so that was a first for me, although all that really sticks in my mind is the terrible queue to get in or out via one tiny doorway.

The gig itself was superb. Patrick has a whole new backing band (seeming to consist of mostly women?) and played a selection of tracks from his upcoming album. It was originally slated to be ‘The Conqueror’, a follow up to the dark, electronic ‘The Bachelor’, but Patrick has since changed direction after falling in love and getting engaged. This really reflects in the new songs as they are very upbeat and almost 80s influenced with their bouncy synths and horns, quite a contrast to his previous work. It all seems to flow quite nicely though, with Patrick’s giddy enthusiasm and theatrics managing to delight the audience. We all had a nice sing along and a dance to some of his older hits, with the fairly short set ending on (as ever) ‘The Magic Position’. I’m looking forward to hearing the album in full next year, and of course the inevitable UK tour that will follow.

Bluebells
House
The Bachelor
Damaris
The Libertine
The City
Tristan
Slow Motion
Who Will?
Together
Hard Times
Time of My Life
—————
Bermondsey Street
The Magic Position

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102nd
Dec

Since I got back from New York I have realised that my trusty 18-55mm kit lens is well and truly broken. It just won’t autofocus any more, despite trying various fixes from the internet. So I have decided, rather than just replacing it, to upgrade to a better, multi-purpose lens. And my investigations have led me to the Canon 15-85mm. I have found one on the Amazon marketplace for £400 but I don’t know whether to buy it now and risk being pretty poor for the rest of December, or wait til I get my Christmas money, by which point it may have already been sold. Decisions!

I will be putting in an order for some new acrylic soon, this time in pink and silver. Just finalising the designs and then it will be sent off. There are some winter-themed pieces and small pink logos to be put onto each necklace chain.

Last night I went to see Arcade Fire at the O2 Arena, but I don’t think words can properly justify the experience. It was simply sublime, and I really wish I was going tonight as well. From the opener ‘Ready to Start’ to the closing song, the whole crowd was with them 100%, dancing and singing along to every track as though their lives depended on it. Arcade Fire appeared to be humbled by the massive audience response and thanked everyone profusely for coming out in the bad weather to see a band who “haven’t even had a hit song”. The setlist was pretty evenly split between the new album and the previous two, and I was incredibly excited to hear them play ‘My Body Is A Cage’, which is one of my all time favourite songs. The segue from ‘Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)’ into ‘Rebellion (Lies)’ is so perfect you would think they had planned it when they wrote the songs, and it is this combination that gets the biggest crowd reaction of the night. As the last strains of ‘Wake Up’ faded into the air, many people felt acutely aware that they had witnessed something special. It is a testament to Arcade Fire’s live show that they can make every gig they play feel unique, and I can’t wait to see them again.

Ready to Start
Keep the Car Running
Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)
No Cars Go
Haiti
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Rococo
My Body Is a Cage
The Suburbs
The Suburbs (Continued)
Crown of Love
Intervention
Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)
Month Of May
Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)
———————–
We Used To Wait
Wake Up

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1021st
Nov

On Tuesday I went back to the O2 Arena (lots of gigs there recently!) to see Gorillaz. I was pretty excited for this gig as I’ve wanted to see them for a long time and not got the chance to before. I arrived late so I would miss the support acts, not a fan of De La Soul and I’ve seen Little Dragon before. I managed to get a position fairly near the front so I had a nice view.

Gorillaz were really good, loads of guest singers and a big orchestra and brass band, but the crowd were rubbish. I was near the front, but people around me only knew the really big singles. The album went to number one so I had assumed that people would know the more popular songs off it, but apparently not. Compared to when I’ve seen Muse, or NIN or Placebo there when most people have known a good majority of the songs, it just felt a bit meh. I enjoyed myself anyway, but it is quite hard to have a good time, sing along and dance when no-one around you is moving. I think I’ll have to try and see them in a smaller venue next time, full of more knowledgeable fans.

On Saturday I went to the Olympia with some friends for the Erotica exhibition. Unfortunately we arrived too late to see Dita Von Teese, but we had a fun time just walking around and looking at all the stalls and lovely corsets, and we got to see the main show at 8pm which was very interesting!

This week I haven’t done much else really. I’ve been saving my pennies for New York and spending the rest of my time Simming!

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1013th
Nov

This week I have mostly been playing the new Sims 3 expansion, as my brother has received the new Call of Duty and has taken over our internet connection. Woe is me! I have created a vampire rockstar celebrity who has a penchant for tight leather trousers. I think he may be channelling Lestat.

On Wednesday I had the day off work to go to the O2 Arena with my dad and brother to see Linkin Park. I was a bit apprehensive, as I don’t know much of their new material, but it turned out ok in the end. Does It Offend You, Yeah? were supporting which was awesome, and their newer songs sound better every time I hear them. Can’t wait for a new release!

Linkin Park came on at about 8:30, which felt stupidly early for a gig! The first part was mostly new tracks, interspersed with a few choice hits to keep the crowd going. Then they got onto the better (in my opinion), older stuff and all was right. I felt like a 14 year old again screaming along to Crawling and One Step Closer! All in all it was an enjoyable experience, but probably not one I would pay for again as I really didn’t connect with the newer music. Plus we were on level 4 in the nosebleed seats, and I had to sit down every other song to stop myself feeling too dizzy.

On Thursday night myself and a friend made our way to the Horse Hospital in Holborn for an exclusive PureHMV screening of the new Mighty Boosh documentary, The Journey of the Childmen. As we took our seats in the tiny room, we were delighted to find free boxes of popcorn and chocolate bars on our seats. Imagine our joy when we found out the bar was free too! Needless to say much alcohol was drunk, and by the time Oly Ralphe, Noel Fielding and Rich Fulcher appeared to introduce the film, we were quite merry! Although not as drunk as a loud woman at the back who kept calling out nonsensical things. The documentary was very enjoyable and was a nice look at the hectic touring schedule they experienced, with some pretty animation and odd bits thrown in. Well worth a Christmas buy. It was also rather surreal to watch it with Noel Fielding sat right behind me giggling at everything on screen as well.

On Friday we continued the drinking theme with a night out in Colchester, and discovered an amazing bar that served shots from a teapot! Once you go teapot, you never go back.

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108th
Nov

Hey kids, it’s blog time again. I’ve been super busy since Halloween so I haven’t even gotten my photos off my camera yet, but I will say that it was an awesome party and the cakes turned out well. Have a strange photo to tide you over for now:


My brother (left) and his best friend (right)

Halloween night saw the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster gig at Heaven, and I actually half considered not going as I was so tired from the previous night. The support acts were a strange motley crew of bands, with the first band Arrows of Love being pretty good but only playing to about 3 people, the second I can’t even remember their name and the third was a surprisingly dire Robots In Disguise. If you know me at all, you will know that Robots are one of my favourite bands, but their whole set just felt very lacklustre and I couldn’t even be bothered to sing along. I’m not sure if it was my own tiredness, the crowd’s lack of enthusiasm or a rubbish performance but either way I was disappointed.

Luckily Eighties Matchbox put in a stellar performance which woke me up and had me thrashing away on the barrier with the rest of the crowd. It was such a sweaty, intense atmosphere that the bands facepaint had melted away halfway through the first song. The security guard in front of me looked like he was having the time of his life, and kept saying “You’re all mental, it’s brilliant” as he hauled crowdsurfer after crowdsurfer over the barrier. The setlist was a mishmash of older and newer tracks, although I was disappointed that In The Garden got overlooked. Another brilliant night with Eighties Matchbox, and I even had Guy hand me his setlist!

On Tuesday I finally had the fortune of attending a recording of Never Mind The Buzzcocks. I had figured out that the guest hosts remaining for the final three episodes were Tim Westwood, Frankie Boyle and Robert Webb and we were praying to every deity that it wouldn’t be Tim. How unlucky we were! I don’t think I have ever seen a more unfunny person in my life. Luckily the guests were vaguely funny, and Phil and Noel more than made up for it. I’m curious to see how it ends up being edited together, as it seemed so patchy and not very cohesive. It was still a good free night though, even with the tube strike starting and having to battle buses to get home.

Other than that, nothing much has been going on in my life. I have become slightly obsessed with Bearbricks though. I never liked them much (not keen on the shape and I prefer the artist based designs of Qees) but I’ve been on a quest to get the Spock Bearbrick from Series 19, and have ended up with quite a few others, including the awesome Iron Man one! May do some photos of them soon.

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