Italian scream-core

I'm taking tomorrow off work because i've been told my contract isn't going to be renewed. Imagine that, being made redundant just like my dad.

First thing i'm doing is fixing these damn drawers.

Sponsorship

For Carling, the Reading and Leeds Weekend festivals are "very, very simply a brand strategy to recruit young males". The company wants to attract 25 to 34-year-old men whose main interests are football, music, beer and women.

My memories of Reading are all about the football, beer and women, except i went there for the music. This is why i'm going to Truck.

Andrew Neilson

Someone sent me a MC Lars tshirt through the post today, with a mysterious post-it note saying "If you don't want it... i'll have it". I have no idea who it's from, and Hermano is on an "external training course" today and so cannot provide any leads.
No-one knows where i live, so who could have sent it? Suggestions in the comments, please.

Oh, and hello! Been almost a week but i haven't been doing owt.

We're winning

Me dancing at Fierce. Such a cool tshirt.



Going to Sutton Four Oaks to a post-wedding party. GS has granted his permission for H to be my partner for the night.

Tractor Boyz

Ipswich lost last night. Another year in the motor leagues.

EDS is coming back to Birmingham today for the *tomp tonight; i believe he's also going to see some film that everyone's talking about, although the name of it escapes me. In fact, i think he may be back in the West Midlands already: much like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker at christmas, i can feel his presence.

New pants for me...

because mine are too sticky.

Sing your heart out loud

Yeah, so college is crap. We're doing a presentation on Cadbury's and their sponsorship of Coronation Street, and how they have become the biggest manufacturer of chocolate in Britain. We have to do lots of marketing stuff - segmentation, the 4P's, Porter's 5 Forces, PEST/STEEPLE, etc etc. It all went a bit wrong yesterday, with members of the 'team' not having done the work they were supposed to, or suggesting that we do something else that we don't have time to do.
On top of this i am meant to be doing an individual presentation next tuesday, which i haven't really even started yet. I think i'm going to do it on 'change', maybe cultural change. Who knows.

So. I've got all this work to do and my social life decides now is the time to make up for all the days it missed when i was sitting alone in my room (ages 18-24): I'm going out tonight, it's *ugarfoot *tomp tomorrow, got a wedding party on saturday, and am supposed to be seeing James Yorkston on sunday.

Oh, and i got an email from the webhosting peeps that i owe them money for renewal of me site. As MC Fusion said," money money money, it's all in your head".

NZA took a cool picture of me dancing at Fierce, which i will somehow stick up here for the couple of people that read this.

Tear your heart out

Have i mentioned Engineer Records yet? I got a load of new stuff of them: Hunter Gatherer, who are fucking brilliant, A Rocket Sent To You, Cornflames and Sometimes Why. I only ordered the Hunter Gatherer and ARSTY ones, and they sent me the other two gratis! And a load more stickers!

It was C's birthday yesterday. I went to the Jug with IND and PND to meet them (C, H, GS, NZA, HMT and others). I made C a card with her face photoshopped onto the body of someone in Belle & Sebastian; think she liked it. Stayed there for a bit then left with PND.
After being at home for about half an hour, GS rang asking if i was going to go with them for a curry. So i did (is it right to leave yer house to go for a curry at half eleven?). Me and NZA shared a vegetable biryana (sp?), was quite nice. C almost smashed her glass calling for a toast.

Fucking this is really boring for you isn't it?

Anyway. I'm in the process of making a website for *ugarfoot *tomp (NZA's done all the pictures, all i've done is some easy-ass Dreamweavering). It was either this or the amount of wine she'd drunk, but C said i was "really cool". Which i am.

Just got back from college; it all went a bit tits-up really.

Peace out xxx

Buy music by Rydell

GS and I met in town last night about ten, and walked to the Mailbox to go to the Fierce party. Because we got there late everyone was already drunk and dancing. NZA, PND and RPF (another new name) had been there since it started at half six, and were dancing hard.
It was really good; i didn't dance but i was enjoying the atmosphere. There were a couple of middle-aged women who descended on GS. I think originally he was just humouring them, and so danced with them. But they kept coming back for more: one of them started stroking my back. We had to keep moving to get away from them.

PND, RPF and i left at twelveish to go to (gasp!)Snobs. The bouncers took my nearly empty Volvic bottle of apple and blackberry squash/vodka mixer. Had a dance there.

I think we left when it shut. PND, NZA and LJ came back to mine, where the usual amount of destruction happened in my room. The three of them fell asleep on my bed and i couldn't move them and so resorted to the floor. PND and NZA left at some point to go back next door, so i was able to lie on something fairly comfortable, but then LJ started snoring. The boy can snore for Europe. I kept punching his arm but he wouldn't change position.

I didn't go out daytripping with the gang today, was too too tired.

Here's a pic of me and the sleepers:

GS's head on a stick

GS, NZA and I went to an exhibition last night: i think it was a student who studied here. It was alright, there were three video installations (two of which were shop cctv's sped up), a big metal/wool thing (you remember making pom-poms as a kid? like that, except on a grander scale), and a spherical object covered in dried pig snouts that you were supposed to stick your head into. Suffice to say, i didn't. One of the video bits had headphones that had dried pig ears stuck on them: i didn't wear them either.
Afterwards we took a walk through the Mailbox to see where we're supposed to be going tonight for Fierce. Looks very swanky. I think we all felt a bit out of place in the Mailbox, what with not wearing expensive enough clothes or having expensive enough haircuts. In fact, not really having haircuts at all. Just hair.

After this we had a quiet pint in a smoke-free pub (wtf?), then went to Tesco where GS went a bit mad buying cheese-related products.

C has cancelled her/our planned trip on Severn Valley Railway, as it was discovered that instead of the '1920s' theme, which she was expecting, it's going to be a Thomas the Tank Engine weekend. We're going to the Black Country Museum instead. Frickin' A.

Did i mention i'm going to see the mighty New Model Army in a couple of weeks? Can't wait. They're headlining a seven-hour extravaganza at the Academy, with Future eXwife, Turbonegro, King Adora and Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster.
Saw NMA at Guildford Festival a couple of years ago, and they blew my socks off.

Fierce

I love working here. This morning there's a lot of people from some department taking photos of us 'working'. They have yet to ask me to be included, but i don't see it being long until they do.
*Update* They asked me. I had to stand looking like i was handing a load of reports to a colleague, which is just what i do every day.

We're all going to the Fierce Festival launch party on Friday. Ought to be really cool. I saw 'we', i mean me, NZA, C, GS, H et al. It's C's birthday on monday too, and it seems she's arranged some kind of trip on the Severn Valley Railway for saturday: i hope we're all still able to walk for it after the performance art hell that will be Fierce (joke).

Hey GS!

Are you going to come and see James Yorkston at the Glee Club? It's on the 22nd and there's 58 seats left (considering you and i need two each for our immense heads). It'll cost you seven of your Streetley pounds.

Oh, and you remember i saw the guitarist from Rosa Luxemberg on the bus? Well, he only bloody studies here. I smelt him coming up the stairs (i saw him also).

Viewing summary

I go to college on tuesday (Perry Barr, if ye interested). This means on monday i do very little at work, and on wednesdays i do very little because i did nothing on monday. Today i've been mostly on the interweb looking at the websites of Something Awful and Electric Eel Shock (lovely band).

So. Here's a couple more links, cos i've got very little to say today.
Prozac can defeat cancer. I'm very surprised it's someone at the University of Birmingham who said this, and not someone from Smithkline Beecham. As to the bit about Ecstacy, i wouldn't know about that.
Wherever i lay my hat that's my shopping centre. Rock on.

(***)

Just had an email from NZA asking if i'm going out with them on friday. It's really cool that people are inviting me out, considering all i do is get real fucked real early and not talk to anyone.

Jarvis who?

Had a text from KB saying she just saw Jarvis Cocker in Aquascutum on Regent Street.

The lifes of the used-to-be-famous, eh?

Engineer Records

I ordered a couple of CDs from Engineer Records the other day: a Shudder To Think tribute one and another sampler. When they arrived on friday they had sent me those two, plus another two full-length albums and a load of stickers! Frickin' A.
So, if you want some cool hardcore/metal/'emo' cds get 'em from here. Engineer Records are cool.

(missing)

I'm sorry. For a while i've been considering stopping this; well, maybe not stopping, but starting afresh. I did actually, but all that was different was the colour.

So. An update. Last weekend went to the Flapper to see Koala Grip with NZA and C. They were good. Afterwards a guy we met gave me and NZA a handful of magic mushrooms each, which we necked on the bus on the way back to mine (NZA and I; C had gone home). Had a nice night; woke up to find texts from IND asking why the hell i wasn't down the park playing frisbee, so i went although my style was flagging a bit.

This weekend: on friday i went to NZA's. I was waiting forever for a bus, and got chatting to a guy at the busstop: he was from Sri Lanka so we chatted about Kandy for a bit (i went there last year(!)). The bus eventually arrived, and i managed to avoid the Selly Oak scum, although i did run the last bit of the journey in case i was being followed. GS was there, although he left after a bit cos H came to pick him up and take him away from us. Me and NZA woke up for some reason at seven am, so i went and caught the bus back home and slept a little more then.HM1 had left his front door keys in the front door, whcih was bad in that the place could've been burgled, but good in that i didn't need to get my keys out of my expansive pocket.

On saturday i went into Harborne with PND to meet one of his friends (in fact, the one that tried to pull me). Haven't seen him (the friend) for ages; i think he was trying to avoid me.
After this we met NZA and EDS (ha! try working out who that is) and some others; it was EDS's birthday a week or so ago, but he lives in London so the Birmingham Crew hadn't seen him since. We then went into town to another place, where more people were (christ, EDS knows loads of peeps). After this we went to the Sunflower Lounge, where it appears we 'crashed' someone's party. There was food and balloons and silver streamers all over.
Had a really good time. Top marks to EDS for being such a nice fellow.

After this me, NZA, GS, H and PND went back to mine, made loads of noise for half an hour, then popped to PND's where we promptly fell asleep.

Yes. Great weekend. Spent too much money though.

Last night I saw Jeffrey Lewis at the Jug of Ale. Was good. Didn't stay to see the main band cos i was too tired.

Coal! Coal!

She started wondering - where is the profit here?