1113th
Aug

It was my birthday yesterday, and I am now the grand old age of 24. We started off the evening quite respectably by having a nice meal, but that quickly devolved as we got stuck into some delicious cocktails.Then we carried the party on to the pubs and clubs and impressed everyone with our terrific Beyonce-style dance moves. Sort of! Photos are courtesy of my lovely new camera, the shiny Canon G12. I need to try not to lose this one in a student bar!
 


 
I also got some lovely acrylic jewellery gifts, including the awesome gamer-necklace from Punky Pins and a black cat ring from Tatty Devine. My friends know me so well!

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1115th
Jul

Last night was the end of an era for me; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was released at the cinema.

I’ve been a massive Harry Potter fan since the first film came out 10 long years ago. I went to see it the week it was released, and immediately begged my parents for the first four books as a Christmas present afterwards. I’ve read all the subsequent books on their day of release and seen all the films in the first few days they have opened and have become enraptured with this magical world. I have in particular become enamoured with the pre-Harry Potter era of the Marauders (the schooldays of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew and the events of the first war) through various well-written fan interpretations, so I knew already that the deaths of Remus and Severus would hit me hard. That’s an understatement really, I pretty much sobbed like a baby throughout the whole second half of the film!

Overall I think it was one of the best Harry Potter films produced, although I won’t go into a nitpicky assessment of how it varies from the books, as I have come to accept that the films and books are two completely separate entities. It was nicely paced, didn’t miss out too much important information and I think it provides a very satisfying conclusion to the eight-film epic. The visuals were stunning and some of the one-liners from favourite characters were particularly memorable. As we went to a midnight screening, the audience were really getting into it and cheering at the best bits, which added a nice atmosphere to it. Luckily it meant that I wasn’t the only one crying at the end!

Now I think it’s time to hang up my wand, re-read the books and wait in vain for a prequel book.

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117th
Jul

I’ve been working hard this week in preparation for the London Film and Comic Convention this weekend. iheartmyart will have a stall there, so if you are attending drop by for a chat and a free lollipop! I’ve also confirmed a place at a market in Brick Lane next Sunday (17th July), Kiki’s Market at the Rag Factory. It’s free to enter, open from 10am-4pm and will feature around 30-40 other handmade craft stalls. If you are in the area, come on down. It looks like its going to be a lovely day!

I’ve been reading pretty vociferously lately as my commute has gone up to around an hour each way. My goodreads 40 book challenge is going well and I’m already 7 books ahead. I think I may even be able to hit 50 books this year, which is almost one a week. I’ve been reading ‘The Polysyllabic Spree’ by Nick Hornby this week, which is a book about reading books. It’s very interesting, and has all of Hornby’s trademark dry wit, and it has been reinforcing my personal book philosophies.

  • Don’t read books because you think you should be reading them. Read books because you enjoy them.
  • If you are not enjoying a book, put it down and leave it, or you will come to see reading books as something difficult and arduous.
  • Don’t feel like you have to read all the classics and critics favourites, if you are happy reading the latest Ian Rankin or Dan Brown, then read it.
  • Lastly, always buy more books, even if you have tons still unread. More books are always a good thing!

Next up I am going to start on the Stieg Larsson Millenium trilogy, because my mum has thrust them upon me and told me I will enjoy them. I’m not one to disobey my mother!

2011 Reading Challenge

2011 Reading Challenge
Amy has

read 28 books toward her goal of 40 books.

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114th
Jul

As I mentioned previously, I went to see Arcade Fire last week. Unfortunately it got off to a bad start when despite having an early access pass, I was let in slightly after the general admission crowd. I had paid a rather large amount for this pass and to say I was annoyed would be an understatement. Luckily when I finally got in, I cornered the organiser and he took my details and promised to take action on it. I made my way to the stage and managed to get myself a place on the barrier, albeit off to the left by the screens. The first three support acts were all entertaining enough to make the time pass, and I even got interviewed for a documentary about the gig (and my photo taken a few times as I was reading a book inbetween acts. Apparently this is not a normal sight!). Then came Mumford & Sons and oh my god, did they ever drag on. I have never much liked them as their music has too much banjo for me, but it seems that live they are even worse. Every song sounds exactly the same and I can tell you that an hour and 10 minutes of them is absolute torture! To make it even worse, it seemed that everyone around me was mostly there with the sole intent of seeing them, so I looked very out of place just standing still on the barrier while all around me the crowd went crazy for yet another banjo solo.

Finally Mumford & Sons were over, people around me actually left and I could unplug my ears. Now it was time for Arcade Fire, and the stage was decked out with bunting and a cinema-style marquee. They arrived onstage promptly and without fuss and immediately launched into the single ‘Ready To Start’, a song that I assumed everyone would know and love. Unfortunately for me, the crowd around me had minimal movement and the girls directly next to me on the barrier looked bored throughout the whole thing. I tried not to let it deter me, but it’s hard to feel like you can let go and enjoy yourself when no-one around you is moving. Luckily the band was on top form and the setlist was great. We even got the first live rendition of ‘Speaking In Tongues’ which was a nice bonus. I came away with the buzz of an amazing show, despite the boring crowd and access issues, and it’s had the problem of making me want more Arcade Fire gigs now. I may have to look into Edinburgh in September.

The setlist was:

Ready To Start
Wake Up
No Cars Go
Haiti
Intervention
Rococo
Speaking In Tongues
Crown Of Love
The Suburbs
The Suburbs (Continued)
Month Of May
Rebellion (Lies)
Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)
We Used To Wait
Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)
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Keep The Car Running
Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

Here is a slightly rubbish photo from my temporary small camera.

The next day I received an email from the organiser of the early access passes offering his apologies for the confusion, and asking if I would like a VIP pass for the Wireless Festival Sunday date. Pulp, The Hives and free booze? I typed yes so quickly I almost broke my fingers.

I have to say, having VIP access to a festival has given me the taste for it now! It was lovely to have a free bar and nice toilets to retreat to. I also managed to get in a few choice bands, including Yuck, Metronomy, The Horrors, The Hives and Foals. Pulp were the headliners and they were really quite incredible. Jarvis still leaps around the stage like a man twenty years his junior, climbing the speakers and tossing out casual quips to the crowd. The setlist was near perfect as well, with a great mix of hits and rarities to keep the more die-hard fans satisfied. The only thing that would have made it better was seeing it with my friends, and luckily I will when they headline Reading in August.

The setlist:

Do You Remember The First Time?
Pink Glove
Mile End
Mis-Shapes
Something Changed
Disco 2000
Sorted for E’s and Wizz
F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E
I Spy
Babies
Underwear
This Is Hardcore
Sunrise
Bar Italia
Common People

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1128th
Jun

I’m back from Glasto, and just about recovered enough to write down a few coherent thoughts and reviews.

Firstly though, before I forget, I want to just jot down a few words on the Patrick Wolf gig I attended last Monday at the Garage. It was a private gig to celebrate his newest release, Lupercalia, and the tickets were given away to fans who had preordered the album. It was quite an unusual gig with no support act and a start time of 8pm (which of course turned into 8:30pm as Patrick was late) and the fans felt a bit more subdued than his normal crowd. Perhaps it was a case of people winning the tickets who wouldn’t normally have paid to go and see him. Nevertheless I enjoyed myself and we got a few treats in the form of the rarely played ‘Teignmouth’ and ‘Wolf Song’, plus hearing some of the new songs live has made me like them more. ‘Together’ is now ensconced as one of my favourite tracks from the new album. Patrick himself veered between emotional and ecstatic, and spent most of the encore in with the crowd, singing and dancing with his fans. Overall it was not the best gig I’ve seen him do (possibly owing to the fact I’m not a fan of Lupercalia in general) but it was still a pleasant evening. Plus there was the bonus of getting home before 11 for a change!

See below for the setlist:

Armistice
Time Of My Life
Teignmouth
Bluebells
House
Wolf Song
The Libertine
Slow Motions
The Falcons
Bermondsey Street
The Days
The Bachelor
This City
The Future
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Tristan Remix
Together
William

Glastonbury, oh Glastonbury. It’s barely been a day, and I’ve already mostly forgotten the horrible slog from the carpark to the campsite, the sea of mud and the Friday full of pissing rain. All that I remember now are the sunny days, the strong cider and the glorious bands. It really was an experience, although I am secretly glad that there isn’t another one until 2013. I don’t think I’ve walked so much over a single weekend in my life! Band highlights include The Vaccines really living up to their hype, Biffy Clyro rocking out despite the rain, Yuck being sublime, The Horrors blowing me away with a surprisingly fantastic performance, The Chemical Brothers and their massive field of ravers, and of course Queens of the Stone Age, for closing Glastonbury with the best set I have seen in a long time. We also did the Arcadia and Shangri-La experience on Saturday night after The Chems, and that was like a whole festival of its own. We saw Orbital on the revolving DJ booth in the Spider in Arcadia, spent a good few hours in the block 9 gay club NYC Downlow, before getting lost in the backstreet slums of the contaminated Shangri-La. We trekked back to our camp as the sun rose and it seemed like a perfect festival moment. I also managed to get up to the Park to see one of the weekends special guests, Radiohead, although as I couldn’t see or hear much it wasn’t all too spectacular.

I’ll do another roundup of Glasto bits when I get my photos back from the developers sometime next week.

This week is the Arcade Fire gig at Hyde Park, and I’m planning to be down the front and going insane for the whole thing. With support from Owen Pallett, The Vaccines, Beirut and Mumford & Sons, it looks set to be an awesome day.

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