Yeah Yeah Yeah

December saw my unintended gig-drought come to an end as the 4th Dec brought one of my favourite bands, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, to the O2 Academy! Support band were way too metal for my liking so after warming up with a few drinks in the bar we snuck thru the crowds down into the main floor and secured our spot!!! a giant sphere hung over the stage, and as the lights began flashing it rolled round and eye-balled us all, a little freakishly!!! 

Karen O absolutely owned the stage when she appeared throughout the night in a downright bizarre range of outifts, including metres of draped fabric hung over wooden arm extensions, hoods and masks!! the music and atmosphere were electric, everyone was well into it and they played a great mix of tracks from their most recent album 'It's Blitz'- stand-out performances were definitely Zero and Heads Will Roll! one of the best moments was when she switched things down a gear and played a more laid back version of Maps from their older album 'Fever to Tell', with the whole crowd joining in !!

'wait, they don't love you like i love you'! 

sandwich solutions!

this morning radio 1 had a genius idea! rather than spending hard-earned pennies on new lunchboxes for the school/ office/ picnic experience, u can instead give the VHS case a well-earned comeback!

1) take one sandwich









2) clean out a VHS case from one of ur favourite videos



3) and Voila, a fabulous looking, highly affordable, and rather kitsch lunch box!! :)

what katie wore

my friend Ing discovered this most excellent blog site by katie and joe! it's simple really:

katie wears a different outfit every day of the year.


joe photographs her and writes a wee blurb.


people like you and me have a nosey and see whatkatiewore!

lovely!

Drops like stars

is the title of rob bell's new book, just out on aug 1st! looks very interesting! his books always provoke some new sort of appreciation of the bible and faith in an actual relevant way! i find them refreshing! and am looking forward to engaging with Drops Like Stars!

'Official Description: 

We plot. We plan. We assume things are going to go a certain way. And when they don’t, we find ourselves in a new place—a place we haven’t been before, a place we never would have imagined on our own.
 
It is the difficult and the unexpected, and maybe even the tragic, that opens us up and frees us to see things in new ways.
 
Many of the most significant moments in our lives come not because it all went right but because it all fell apart.
 
Suffering does that. It hurts, but it also creates.
 
This book is an exploration of the complex relationship between suffering and creativity, driven by the belief that there is art in the agony.

a few things of note, for tonite!

• i am tired and exhausted in every way!
• i have had an outrageously fun weekend involving coffee's, deep chat, bbq's, a 4am bedtime, probably too much rosy, some great company, top tunes and a highly satisfying full breakfast brunch at stravaigins!
• this evening 6 of us went to the Arches for Alien Wars... only 3 went in, of which i was not one!! i suspected nervous disposition and nightmare tendencies would not combine well with massive alien, sharp claws, darkness, confined spaces and being chased!!
• costa coffee only charged me £1 for a mug of steamed soya milk, vanilla syrup and marshmallows :)
• fopp is my favourite shop. even when i can't afford anything it's so nice to wander about and lose yourself amongst it all! books, cds, dvds= perfect! it might (might!) even beat clothes shopping!
• in the Oxfam bookshop on Byres Rd my friend's book is being sold! 'God's Never Offside'! now sitting at front of shelf of religious books!

that's all really!

in a blink...

life is short. in the grand scheme of eternity we really are a drop in the ocean. sometimes i wonder where the time goes and wonder why i waste so much time doing silly, pointless things. i'm not beating myself up for it, just wondering why.

on friday night i saw a lady dying on the street. she had been run over by a van only a few moments before and as the paramedics worked on her my car was stopped by the police to let other vehicles by. i only saw her for a short time, probably only ten seconds, but it felt like minutes were going by as i watched her, surrounded by blood and her handbag sitting on the road. it was brown and so was her curly hair. i heard later she died on the street and that it was a hit and run- police are still looking for the driver that killed her. 

it has really hit home how fragile how life is and how in a second it can be taken away. i wonder about who she has left behind and how many lives have been impacted by her passing. about how many other people have been shaken and shocked by seeing her lying there. i had to pass the spot today on my way to work and flowers now colourfully mark the spot where tragedy occurred. our world is so full of contrasts and conflicting images... words... behaviour... opinions... reactions... and in the blink of an eye it, or we, can be gone.

so, what are you living for?

a world of readers...

My little cluster map (bottom right of my blog page!) is about to get its yearly clear and refresh so my little map of readers will be all sad and empty in a few days! on the nice side, my blog has had 819 views since 17th june last year so i hope u'v all been enjoying my reviews and ponderings! its fun to see where people are reading from and there's been some curious views from far flung lands! so here's to all of u, familiar and new!

the Britney Circus comes to london!!

and i was there to experience it!! arriving at the o2 with hazel we were both slightly tired but rather excited! we were about to see Britney Spears live in London, or as live as seeing Britney can get!! outside the venue were a variety of circus/ fun fair rides incl a helter skelter and carousel, which made us giddy on sight!! once inside we grabbed some food and ascended to the heights of level 4 where our glorious seats were to be found-not recommended for those with vertigo! the upper floor of the o2 is so steep its almost vertical, i feared that with one wrong step i would topple over the edge!!

thanx to the tube strike we were a little late 

for doors open but just in time for supporting act, Ciara!!! she was fantastic, the ideal performer to warm up the crowd with funky r& b beats and impressive vocals! then, the lights dimmed, the stage shifted and out of

 nowhere appeared... clowns!! and magicians!! and acrobats!! 

and lots of colourful and sparkly props!! there was an impressive circular screen hanging over the central stage area with videos, graphics and images of circus and britney related footage!! then came 

the opening beats of Britney's hit song "Circus' and there she appeared before us, descending from the centre of the arena 

in a golden sphere!!

the rest of the evening was non-stop!! the overall performance and show was high energy with some amazing stage props and dance moves from the accompanying dance troupe!! 

however, as much as i love and am loyal to britney, she was

 definitely lacking a certain sparkle!

 her costumes certainly tried to make up for that, but having been prepared for her miming i was at least expecting some outstanding and energetic dance moves! which were sadly lacking from the leading lady herself! lots of strutting around and being twirled on various props but not u got the impression she was just not on top her game! i am convinced that on thurs evening i was singing and dancing at the 02 more than britney!! however, she performed/ mimed a great variety of her tracks including new remixes of Baby One More Time, Slave 4 U and Me Against the Music,

 the atmosphere was buzzing and we were all on out feet dancing and singing along!!! fabulous!! and to be fair to her, she did sing Everytime (her one live song!) whilst suspended from the ceiling attached to a giant sparkly umbrella!! and did mid-air acrobatics which was pretty impressive!

So despite my slight disappointment at her lack of effort we still overall had an amazin time! the show was a colourful explosion of some classic hits, impressive stage performance and lots of sparkle!!! and i got a circus mask for free!! what's not to love...! :)

Millport Magic!

fresh sea air, picnics on the beach, entertaining island features, the joke shop, a bitter wind, 10 miles, 3 bicycles and 3 of us.. why yes, it was a day out to Millport!! sadly minus the luvly ing, but karen, roo and i braved the elements for our fun trip round the isle of cumbrae!! i think we also beat the record for most modes of transport used in one day: taxi, train, ferry, bus and bicycle!! we set out from sunny glasgow and as the sky became increasingly grayer the hilarity heightened! i had already changed my outfit at least 10 times before leaving, and the nearer we got to millport the more layers went on!

it was such a funny day out! we got our bikes, helmets, waterproof gear on and after cycling for, oh, about 8 mins, stopped for picnic: part 1! this was closely followed about 9 mins later with picnic part 2: at the cafe! :) however, we then got some serious cycling under way, had some photo stops to capture those classic millport sights- the indian rock, lion rock, crocodile rock, to buy some rock! we also create some art of our own in a tribute to dear ingrid who had been got by the hangover monster!!! the day was complete with a visit to the joke shop for some exploding bangers and fake cigarettes, haha!! and a trip to the very retro Rio cafe on the sea front where we proudly presented each other with our We Cycled Round Millport certificates!! the perfect ending to a jolly day out at the seaside!! and now a little achey and very appreciative of a seat which isn't made solely of rubber and springs- ouch!!

the beauty of Bell X1 :)

Bell X1 have long been one of my favourite alternative bands and having just release album no 4 'Bluelights on the Runway' they were winding up their tour in Glasgow on Thurs nite at the mighty King Tut's! along with Ing, Miss Bliss and Olivia Lovely (genuine name, amazing, and claim to fame of being David Kitt's 2nd cousin!!) we began in Nice and Sleazy's for a few drinks, which brought back fond memories of singing at their open mic nights in years gone by!

The Villagers were supporting but we missed most of their set being too distracted by our own entertaining chat! we managed to claim a decent spot before the band came on and opened with How Your Heart is Wired, which wouldn't have been my first choice, not the catchiest opener but it seemed to do the trick! They played a great selection of tracks from their earlier albums which was pleasing, including Alphabet Soup, Eve the Apple of My Eye and Rocky Took a Lover!! I sadly missed Flame due to a trip to the loo but was back in time for The Ribs of a Broken Umbrella, hurrah! It was a fairly mellow and chilled out gig but every now and then they upped the ante with a more upbeat song and lead singer, Paul Noonan, was full of the Irish banter!! Overall I loved the whole nite and the others seemed to enjoy it too- Olivia has also been a die-hard fan since day one but this was Ing and Miss Bliss's first encounter! I even kept up gig tradition and bumped into a couple of folk i knew and hadn't seen for ages! Lovely!

Andrew Bird at the Oran Mor

Last nite was spent most enjoyably experiencing Andrew Bird present his musical genius at the Oran Mor! what a guy! after a tasty (and massive!) burger in Ashton Lane's 'Loft', myself, Karen, Rich and Scott made our merry way to the corner of Byres Rd to the basement of the Oran Mor, which was a pretty cool gig venue! after some deliberation we chose a drink in the bar over listening to the support act, and a fruity pimms and cranberry later we meandered down to the gig! 

Andrew Bird has a really unusual style, his newest album Noble Beast is lovely but i had completely not appreciated how multi-talented he is! His performance had me in awe! basically, he began his songs playing an instrument, mainly violin in which he is classically trained, but as he performed he also recorded it and played it back on a loop! he would then do the same with another instrument, record, playback on loop, etc until the track was layered with various rhythms, sounds, melodies, whistling, glockenspiel, etc, before his vocals rolled across the top as the icing on the cake!

his lyrics are always interesting and the overall sounds merged beautifully throughout the evening- i actually felt transported at times into different places! like, during one song i felt as though i should have been running thru a victorian house in the country; in another that i was in China- it was reminiscent of the movie Memoirs of a Geisha; during another i felt like playing with a giant dolls house! the rose wine perhaps contributed to this too! i felt happy and excited and inspired by his creative musical genius!

Lovely :)

10k accomplished!! :)

hooray!!! i did it!! i can now say with pride that i have run my 10k race!! in precisely 1 hour, 13 mins and 13 secs!

so... last sunday i woke at 6:30am, rather anxious about what my day held, had a wee breakfast, a luvly tropical Berocca energy drink and got my running gear on! chris dropped me near the start point which, despite reading all the pre-course info, wasn't where i was expecting it to be! as in, not even in the park but on a street! i braved a portaloo before the queues became utterly mad, found the Yellow Zone and hovered around trying to look casual and nonchalant as i scoured the sea of faces for a familiar one! amazingly, the meeting place which sandra and i had agreed was actually successful and we did the warm up, smiled for photos and psyched ourselves up!! i swung rapidly from being outrageously excited, soaking up the atmosphere to the dreaded realisation that i was about to run for a very long distance!! 

we were started in stages depending on our colour group and at 10am the race kicked off with the very fast people taking off at a mighty pace, followed by fairly fast runners, followed by us, followed by people dressed as banana's and bumble bees!! classic! there were over 10, 500 runners and the atmosphere was VERY exciting, i kept laughing, at nothing really other than how brilliant it all was!! the first km flew by the quickest, and throughout the race there were hundreds of people cheering us on- crowds lining the streets, people hanging out of their flat windows, drivers tooting enthusiastically, members of the public handing us water/ energy sweets, and at every km mark there were bagpipers!!! 

sandra and i both successfully ran the ENTIRE way, of which i feel very proud of us!! i think back to when i first started running and literally couldn't run more than 2 mins at a time! we had some luvly chat on the route round, cheering each other on and being generally impressed with ourselves that we hadn't collapsed in a ditch along the way!

crossing the finish line was magical, and a wee bit emotional too! as i approached the final stretch i heard my name being shouted and managed to spot my plews cheerleaders, gave them a quick wave and pressed on for the finish! what a feeling!! we were then given a medal, banana and goodie bag (which was potentially exciting but contained pretty random things including a herbal sweet(yes, just one!) and a jar of cranberry sauce!) 

there have been many positive things related to training for and running this 10k- general feelings of health and well-being; becoming part of an informal community of fellow runners; actually disciplining myself enough to complete what i set out to do- this was a biggie as i tend to love something passionately and then find something else and move on and love the new thing passionately, and then find something else, etc...! but best of all has been all the support and money raised for Stop the Traffik through my JustGiving website, it has truly blown me away! Your generosity has been incredible and going to a really worthy cause! so a final MASSIVE THANKYOU to each of u! :)

a new running phenomenon!!!

eek, it is finally here- RACE WEEKEND!! having now been training for roughly 9 weeks and starting from scratch i must say i am rather pleased with myself to have reached this point!! i went out for my final pre-race run this morning, a quick 15 min blast round the park, in the lashing rain! gripped by the clutches of spontaneity i dashed out into the rain, not fully appreciating the icy drench until it had overtaken my entire being! thru gritted teeth i pushed on, and started enjoying it! and, haha, i had watched Friends the other nite, and it was The One Where Phoebe Runs Like a Maniac, so feeling inspired i decided to try it, and it was invigorating!! for those of u who have somehow missed this episode, Phoebe runs with limbs flailing at full pelt, just because its more fun that way, and reminds her of when she used to run when she was little!! i did feel a tad self-conscious but the mad flailing of arms enabled me to shake that off and i ran like an out-of-control maniac!!! i would SO recommend doing this at least once in ur life!!

this week has been a bit of a struggle due to feeling a bit under the weather and having a bad few days with my stomach, but i am now recovered i think, have my race pack through and am all set!! Race pack is quite exciting and includes: a free underground pass for 4 people for sunday; a parking permit; information on the race and route; my cool electronic chip which will give me my time, and a brand new race t-shirt!! having spoken to fellow runners, apparently it is not cool to wear this on the day, but afterwards u can wear it with pride!

i also want to say a massive THANKYOU to everyone who has sponsored me so far!! i have been overwhelmed by the amount of support raised for Stop The Traffik, and the total before gift aid is currently at £450.01!!! and incl Gift Aid it comes to an amazing £562.83! You people are wonderful! And for anyone still wishing to donate to Stop the Traffik, my sponsor page will be live for the next wee while so if u would still like to give then it's not too late :)

only 2 sleeps til race day....

Stop the Traffik is an amazing charity who work to fight to prevent the sale of people, protect the victims and prosecute the traffickers.

 

They are based in countries around the world including the UK, India, Australia, Belgium, USA and Bangla

desh and all money raised through my 10k will go toward the Global Fund. Stop the Traffik will make sure that funding tackles root causes such as poverty and gender

 discrimination amongst the most vulnerable groups, targets early intervention and rescue, safe houses, good options for either going home and building a new life, or if that is too dangerous, finding a new place to live and work or study. Finally, the fund will help frontline professionals follow through on prosecuting traffickers and seeing that this does not remain a crime with high benefits and low costs.

Some more information taken from the Stop the Traffik official website:

• TRAFFICKING IS...
  to be deceived or taken against your will, bought, sold and transported into slavery for sexual exploitation, sweat shops, child brides, circuses, sacrificial worship, forced begging, sale of human organs, farm labour, domestic servitude.
• TRAFFICKING IS…
  where family members and friends deceive parents to release their children or sell themfor as little as $20 each, selling them on to local gangmasters or serious organised international trafficking rings.
• TRAFFICKING IS…
  growing. 2–4 MILLION men, women and children are trafficked across borders and within their own country every year. More than one person is trafficked across borders EVERY MINUTE, which is equivalent to five jumbo jets every day. a trade that earns twice as much worldwide revenue as Coca Cola.
• TRAFFICKING IS…
  where victims usually suffer repeated physical abuse, fear, torture and threats to families to break their spirits and turn them into saleable commodities. a person can be sold and trafficked many times.

Stop the Traffik focuses on 3 main areas:

• Education: Spreading the message, creating awareness and understanding of people trafficking.  
• Advocacy: When people act things change. Engaging with those who have the power to minimise the trafficking of people. 
• Fundraising: Financing anti-trafficking work around the world working with those vulnerable to and those who have been trafficked.

We have to work together to fight to prevent the sale of people, protect the victims and prosecute the traffickers.

we are SO in the running groove!!

today ladies and gents, i found my groove!!! not on the dancefloor, for that groove was unleashed many years ago, but on the streets!!! today i ran 8km!!! in just about an hour!!! and i feel amazing!! admittedly a little achy now, but so worth it!! Lady Gaga had been replaced by Chris and after a difficult start with crampy legs, visit to the loo after about 15 mins, and a giant blister, i persevered and found my running groove!! a nirvana state which i had heard talk of from experienced runners but never imagined i would ever attain myself!!

yet here we are! happy sigh!! and lots of these!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

what is the secret i hear u all ask!! well, once u push thru the leg crampy pain, get your breathing under control and work thru the barrier which tends to hit at around 23 mins, u just keep running! and running... and running! usually 35 mins is my average, i have managed 45 on a couple of occassions but this evening we were out for 68 minutes! including toilet break in the park (in the public toilets, please note, not behind a tree!!) and a couple of pauses to shake off cramp/ cross the busy road/ make up an excuse so i could pause for breath!! and once in the groove i discovered it is actually possible to hold a conversation whilst running, something i have attempted and failed at many times! oh the joy! no need to temporarily withhold my thoughts any longer (altho i suspect chris may have been enjoying some welcome peace!)!

and incase u are wondering, or have read previous blog where i mentioned that i was going to be doing this as a sponsored run, i am indeed raising some awareness and funds for a very worthy cause! See blog above this for more details!! :)

run into the ground!

after today's run i feel officially terrible! disgusting really. sore. achy. trembly. too weak to get off the couch and into the shower. to even move and get a much-needed glass of water. i think last week's craziness has got to me. spring harvest. 7200 guests. 55 stewards. 8am start and 1am bed. non-stop activity, cheerfulness and enthusiasm. it's finally got the better of me!

moan. about running. moan.

that is all.

(disclaimer: a more positive blog can be anticipated shortly- in the meantime let me encourage u to visit my 10k race sponsor page for a most worthy cause! and to make this wretched pain worthwhile!!)

Barcelona!

such a beautiful city! despite the rain we had a wonderful weekend wandering the streets (yes, i think we covered every street!), soaking up the culture, taking in the architecture, visiting real places of interest and enjoying some delicious local cuisine! our wonderful hosts are extremely familiar with the city and we were treated to an impressive tour, complete with history, places of interests and unusual wee coffee shops and stores we probably never would have found ourselves!we were cooked a fabulous dinner on the Friday evening, complete with delicious cocktails and a Brazilian recipe cake for Chris's birthday!! After a leisurely morning we became familiar with the transport system (genius, you can travel on any bus, train, fenicular, etc and go as far as u like, changing as often as u like for up to 1 hour 15 mins and it only counts as one single!!) our stroll along the beach became a race to get to the cafe at the end due to the monsoon style rain and wind we were out in! after drying off a little we walked to the Sagrada Familia- having seen it 6 year ago i was impressed at how much work had been done on it since then, altho it is still not completed! 

the afternoon was spent wandering the

 streets of the Gothic Quarter, popping into very cute shops and being given an unofficial Shadow of the Wind (one of my favourite books, set in Barcelona!)

tour which had me most enthralled! the evening took us to one of the nicest restaurants i have ever been in, the food was outstanding, very healthy and the atmosphere was just lovely! over there it's considered normal to go out for dinner at like, 9pm earliest, with happy hour in bars from 10pm- midnight!! so we were very happy by midnight, especially visiting the Fairy Forest bar, complete with a actual trees, twinkly lights and a wee pond!!

the following day we wandered down to the Marina, explored the shops, 

tried some Spanish snacks and then caught the fenicular up the mountain to Parc Montjuic where we then took a cable car to the top!! here we had a luvly time at Montjuic castle, dating back to 1640! our weekend was complete with a final wander down Las Ramblas, the main street in the city where there are countless cafes, market stalls, artists and street performers! when we visited Barcelona in 2003 we stayed in a rooftop youth hostel on Las Ramblas which was basically a small rooftop sauna with bunkbeds and a sliding door- most unusual! our journey 

home was uneventful and whilst i was sad to leave the beautiful city behind i am now happily anticipating our return there in the summer! taster weekends are SO the way forward!!

first 5k complete!

i feel knackered, accomplished and rather pleased with myself!

i was excited at being able to run for 43 mins today, was pleased that i'd actually done my first ever 5k run, but will now need to work on bringing the time down and the distance up for the actual 10k, or this race could take me a while!! actually, my initial aim was to actually just complete the race, then i began thinking ok, if i can do it in 1 hour 15 that'll be good, now i might aim for 1 hour 10!!!

however, i feel having started from a level of 0% fitness with week 1 involving having to run 2 mins, walk 2 mins 5 times, being able to run for this long is a bit of a miracle!!

see, miracles happen! :)

new tunes!!!

i am havin such a luvly nite exploring music! thanx to some top tip-offs from musically-inclined mates i have been enjoying the likes of Bon Iver, The Kills, Holly Golightly, and discovered a website 4AD which has a bunch of bands and musicians and includes a free sampler album you can download! there is a nice sounding band called It Hugs Back who's song Work Day is fairly cheery and easy to listen to!

Tickets for the Wee Chill music festival go on sale soon, and Camera Obscura are playing king tuts this month along with Attic Lights which should be a good nite all in! :) they recently filmed the video for their new single in Stereo, and were looking for folk to come and be in it! unfortunately i couldn't round up the troops at short notice so missed a good wee free gig!

and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs new album, It's Blitz,  just came out- i'm excited! i'm holding off til i can get the actual cd in Fopp tomoro, but couldn't resist downloading their single 'Zero' which i LoVe!!

so, there's some links to keep u all entertained!

another step forward!

ok, i'v finally done it and registered for the women's 10k! there's no backing out now as £23 of my well-earned cash has now secured my place at the start line! my training is fairly varied, ranging from 20 mins of feeling horrendous and wanting to crawl, to actually being able to run for 32 mins and feeling pretty good! i'v discovered the worst time for me is straight after work when i'm already tired after a long day! unfortunately that is the best time as it fits in my day! so we're pushing on through!

however, there is a potential *disasterous* clash- my X factor audition has also been registered but here's the bad news- round one is on Sat 9th May and if i just so happen to make it to round two i will have to choose between running the 10k or the possibility of stardom, fame and fortune (really the huge tempter is getting to possibly meet Simon and Cheryl!!!!!).

Dilemma! however, i think we'll just cross that bridge IF and when we come to it!!

10k in the making!

i am just in the door, fresh from my 2nd run of the spring!! when i say fresh i actually mean completely the opposite- hot, sweaty, thirsty and very red in the face!! however, i must admit that now its over for today, it feels good! despite proclaiming to hate running, there does come a point (admittedly near the beginning!!) where i sort of love it!! pounding the streets, thru the park, sun shining, colourful spring flowers cheering me on my way, smiling and saying hello to people i pass by (again, when i say hello i actually mean trying to make a noise that sounds close to hello as i can barely breathe as it is!!)

so, the aim... Womens 10k on May 10th! 

According to their website countdown i have 50 days left to get myself in shape and be able to run 10k in a reasonable time! having put off training for as long as possible the crunch time has come to either commit to doing it or stop kidding myself! so, i figure that if i go public then i'll have to do!

my other purpose in doing this 10k is to raise money and awareness for an extremely worthy cause! OM (Operation Mobilisation) do a lot of work in India to support the Dalit women and after speaking to one of their workers I am going to be raising money to fund a specific project! so, watch this space for more details of how u can get involved too :)

howling bells and spiders!!

last nite saw another much-looked-forward-to gig as the Howling Bells appeared in glasgow! hurrah! i love it when bands u'r totally familiar with come and play live! as mentioned in previous blog, their new album came out last week so after immersing myself fully in it i was totally prepared! we had a nice wee group gathered incl. Rich, Scott and some of the luvlies from work, for a bite at the Arches (where the scary Alien chases are currently happening!!)! the band played at the Classic Grand, a kind of weird venue next to the Academy of Music and Sound where i started my guitar lessons (but the only sign advertising what's in the building is for the pole dancing club on the 2nd floor so i used to feel rather self conscious waiting for them to buzz me in!!!) anyway, it was a nice little venue but the stage is really low so if ur like me and a mere 5'3" then its tricky to see! which lets be honest, is one of the reasons u go- most important to suss out their look  and see if u can replicate the world's most glossy fringe (as featured on the luvly Juanita bell!)

the support band were fairly bland- their music was alright, i just wasn't feeling the vibe!! this may have been partly due to the very sticky wet top i was then wearing after some randomer knocked my drink all over me! sigh! 

however, when the Howling Bells came on the nite became lovely! they mostly played from their new album, of which i am particularly loving 'It Ain't You', 'How Long' and 'Cities Burning Down'! they played a handful of older stuff incl. Broken Bones which karen and i swayed to

 with a bit of attitude! there was a great energy from the stage and i loved how she performed and used her hands all the time! i almost missed the coolest moment of the whole gig when, during their performance of Golden Web (at which i get creeped out cos its about spiders!) Juanita meandered down into the crowd and was standing Right At Us!! major gold stars to Rich for elbowing me hard enough to point this out!! 

so we sang to each other for a moment or two, connecting thru our cool fringes! i believe the lines she gazed at me whilst singing were 'yeah u bit me, and u ran, away, just like a spider', and 'i'v been bitten by a spider, and now there's nowhere to run'!!!!! 

spiders and running are two of the things i loathe most in life, how ironic!! now i have a warm fuzzy feeling when i think of them! :)

so in conclusion, it was a top gig- they were great live and altho their encore song was a bit mince i think we can forgive them as they sounded so good the rest of the nite and had a guitarist who wore a fedora and looked like brad pitt!! smile! :)

i'm a superhero i am!

tonite i popped along to sainsburys garage for an innocent wee shop, only to turn a corner and be affronted by a man shoving a bottle of white wine down his jeans, and hiding it with his coat!!! shocked as i was, i picked up a jar of something useless and marched (subtly of course) to the security guard at the door to report this heinous crime! the 2 of us then crept round the store til i spotted him and could point him out!! 

as key witness i then hovered around the biscuits keeping my beady eye on this crook, only to once again be privy to him stuffing packets of sausages in his coat pocket!!! what is the world coming to!?! i caught the eye of a girl who had seen this too, we both had a shocked giggle and i updated the security guard who by this point had been joined by 2 colleagues, all rather fierce looking and practically blocking the exit!

what happened next u ask...

well, our shoplifting friend then attempts to leave and is stopped by the men in uniform! who challenge him very politely, at first! the stealer denies he has any store produce hidden on him, but this is quickly disproved as everyone can see the sausages sticking out his pocket!! disaster! upon being asked to open his (rather smart leather!) coat he gives up the pretense, pulls out the bottle of wine and a packet of sweets!! and then proceeds to ask for leniency as he is apparently homeless- question: where was he planning to cook the sausages!?!

the security guards let him off with a warning and a ban on returning to the store! What!?!? no punishment!? no being led away in handcuffs, or spending a nite in the cells!? the man staggered away and the security men thanked me for all my hard investigative work, before having a rather boisterous chuckle at " the world's worst shoplifter"!!!

weekly musings

feeling inspired by scott's 'white noise' weekly review/ preview, here is a brief summary of things happening/ have happened!:

My week in reverse:

• today did not have enough minutes in it to complete the outrageous amount of work i have on just now! 

• yesterday evening was spent clearing out everything i hid in my old bedroom cupboard when i moved out!! it was even more difficult than i expected- i am an epic hoarder of meaningless junk and still struggled to part with: my childhood badge and stamp collections (no wonder i was bullied at school!!); approx one million photographs; shoeboxes filled with letters, cards and notes from a rather broad range of people such as my irish penpal from when i was 8, my gran who lives in london, funny notes sent back and forth to friends in school; folders filled with handwritten, colour-coded notes from high school, including repeat notes of Higher biology which i sat twice and gained a D and C for!

• sunday i slept a lot

• fri and sat were spent in edinburgh at the Women Walking With God conference- it was luvly spending time with friends and whilst i slept thru some of the teaching, the seminars were great and Lou Fellingham and band led the music extremely well!

• wed, thurs and fri were jam-packed with work and visiting my grandpa in hospital. he has been in now for 4 weeks and is thankfully starting to show signs of improvement after having a number of strokes and then catching the C Diff infection.

tomoro i am sooo looking forward to the Howling Bells gig!! their new album 'Radio Wars' is great,a bit perkier than 

their previous one, altho there is a song about a spider 

(Golden Web) which i just cant listen to!! it makes me paranoid that there might be one on me, i mean, really, there is no need to remind people that such creepy things exist and sneak around!!

Russell Brand- Scandalous!

last sunday nite we ventured thru to Edinburgh to see Russell Brand's live show at the Playhouse! The place was full, the warm-up act distinctly average and then RB (as i will now refer to him for ease of typing!) walked out on stage and instantly his persona captured the attention of everyone in the theatre!! there really is quite a magical presence about him that draws you to him and holds you there! his show was hilariously, stomach-achingly funny- entitled 'Scandalous' a fair proportion of it was based on his recent escapades featured on the news and in various papers and magazines!! a self-confessed egotist he showed us all clips of himself on the news, delighted that he now had his 'brand new own show' at such prime time viewing!! admittedly i used to really dislike him, but after reading his Booky Wook and watching him some more on tv i have become rather fond of this crazy-haired, tight-jeaned, extremely intellectual comedian!! his use of the english language is quite something, he's clearly very intelligent and uses this to enhance his chat!!

the highlight of the evening (for me anyway!!) was right at the end of the nite when he came down to meet his fans in the foyer!! we hovered around with about a million others, nowhere near the door which he was due to exit! i managed to sneak into the inner foyer at the opposite corner of the room, and i could just see his hair above the crowd! however... he then made his way diagonally across the room, straight toward me, and then jumped up onto a counter-top directly in front of me!!! woooooohooooo!!! i was like, one person away from Russell Brand!!! he then started reaching down and shook my hand!! a girl then handed him a pen and asked him to sign her book, so i grabbed my ticket, yelled ' could u sign this please?!'. To which he looked down at me, said 'sure love', took my ticket and signed it!!!! score!!! so i am now the proud owner of a signed Russell Brand ticket, after having one of the funniest nights of my life!!! :)

snow snow snow!

today there is crazy snow again in glasgow!! i was travelling back thru from st andrews today and as we approached glasgow it was getting thicker and thicker! 

so tonite it was too snowy to resist and we went a wander at around half 10 to the park, which was totally jumping! there were literally hundreds of people, probably all students, out sledging, ski-ing and even snowboarding in kelvingrove park!! it was so pretty and we built a wee snowman with proper twig arms and a face!! he was very cute, i felt bad leaving him alone!! this is a picture of our car park at about 8pm tonite!

2009 hopes and plans!

boo, i have a virus! having not felt great for a couple of days i put it down to too much partying, and whilst this may be a factor i am now officially suffering from the sniffles, a temp, feeling sick and aching all over:( boo, rubbish! 

however, as it is now january and we are far away enough from new year to make actual goals and plans for this year! i always find making new years resolutions are a bit trivial and i always come up with a massive list of things which i a) never stick to, b) feel guilt and disappointment over when i cant keep to them! so, my actual hopes and plans for this year are:

• to complete the women's 10k race in may
  
• to stick in with learning guitar 
  
• to do some more travelling- some plans are already in place, but more on that later!
  
• to see Britney Spears live in concert!
  
• to then attend some way cooler gigs to redeem my reputation!!
• to visit some more of my friends in their new locations (Grenoble would be just lovely!)
• to become an aunt again (yes, this one is already on the cards!! congratulations brother and sis-in-law!!)
• to actually finish reading a christian book (i just cant ever seem to get to the end without getting distracted!!)
• to write, record and play some new songs! it's been way too long!
• to audition for the X Factor and meet Simon and Cheryl!!

so, those are my plans for now! they may change, they may be achieved, they may be abandoned but i am happy with them, today, at this moment!

love love love (with a sprinkling of humiliation!!)

i am currently still in my pyjama's recovering from another week of work, and another super fun weekend of celebrations! admittedly i have had an alarming number of embarrassing moments over the past 7 days, including: 

• realising on the train that i was wearing odd shoes to work
  
• having my dress caught up in my tights whilst meandering thru paisley (cringe!)
  
• being approached by a sweet old lady to tell me that my dress was caught up, again, on the same day!!! (this time in my jacket- what is wrong with me!?!!)
• participating on the dance floor last nite in a burlesque performance with all the hens, only to realise that as i strutted and wiggled forward in a showgirl-style walk, no-one else was with me!!!! *mortified*

despite my shortcomings and humiliation we had a fabulous day yesterday at ruth and colin's wedding!! they are the cutest couple ever and everything was perfect, from the ceremony (where they each read out their own vows!!) to the meal to the evening reception!! so much fun! i met loads of lovely and amazing people and ruth looked absolutely gorgeous! unfortunately my preparation did not go quite so well as i had a complete wardrobe malfunction- the new dress i bought caused me great distress when the zip broke and 20 mins was spent trying to fix it, without success! so a last-minute outfit change was required leaving me rather flustered and enraged!! however, the rest of the day was wonderful, at the House for an Art Lover in Glasgow's Bellahouston Park.

the hen weekend last week was also outstanding!! the day began with a champagne breakfast

 before the 17 of us got the train to edinburgh where we had a lot of fun at a burlesque class!!

 i was slightly nervous about it but it was such a laugh- we learned a variety of moves and finally a dance routine where we totally outshone the pussycat dolls!! dinner and drinks the

n followed, with lots of amazin hen activities, pink fluffy feather boa's and hilarious photos!!

Travelocity!

Another new year, another new office, another experience as the new girl! my first day's commute did not come without a little trauma- being splashed by a lorry; dropping all 3 of my bags whilst rummaging for my purse, and for my finale, colliding with a girl who was rushing onto the train as i was getting off, only for her to throw her frothy coffee all down her front and scream profanities at me!!! luvly! welcome to paisley! admittedly, a daily hour long commute each way is not my ideal- perhaps i'v been spoiled by being able to walk everywhere in my previous job, but the joy at being able to leave lengthy public transport journeys behind after graduating uni did seem too good to be true!

so today i'm off to purchase a travel zonecard! i kinda like the idea of just flashing my card to gain access to various modes of transport! sadly the photo booth i went to for my ID pic just did not do me justice, ahem, and after ensuring i adhered to all the guidelines for passport photos had 3 rather unfortunate pictures to choose from! £3.50 not best spent! only to get home and have husband point out that i wasn't getting them taken for a passport and could have smiled normally without worrying about the guidelines!! ah!