Son of my Lather

Mallory's post about laundry reminded Bloodredroses about laundry which reminded me about laundry. I was at Uni, which is never the cleanest period of anyone's life, however I always made sure I had clean pants, socks and t-shirts. This meant going to the laundrette at my halls and putting some money in the machines.

Pic stolen from Image Zen

As this was my first time doing my own washing I was sure of the etiquette. It was rather a small room, but I didn't want to leave my clothes on their own (who knows if a 90 minutes 'different class' t-shirt can hack it by itself?) so I took my copy of The Beach along and started reading. As people kept coming in and leaving I realised I had made a major laundrette faux pax - I was meant to go back to my halls and return when my clothes had finished.

So I started to do this and all was well. I even progressed to the part where I could time to the exact minute when my washing and drying would be finished so I didn't have to waste any time. This meant though that sometimes I would have to wait for a dryer to be free, and sometimes took clothes out of a finished dryer and left them on the side for their owner to collect them.

This was how I ended up with no pants.

I took some clothes out and left them on the side. Then put my pants and socks in to be dried. When I returned to my drier there were no pants. Or socks. But the clothes I had taken out were still on the side. I suspected the owner of these clothes had just gone into the dryer but didn't check if they were his. But surely he would have noticed?

Either way this left me down to one pair of clean pants and I'm not the boy who will get run over with dirty pants so I had to go to the market to buy some. I kept going back to the laundrette to see if my washing turned up, but over the weekend it hadn't. How could someone not have noticed that my clothes weren't theirs? The other clothes were still there as well.

Luckily on Monday a swap had taken place and my pants had returned in a black bin bag (luckily not one used for trashbagging by Blade Braxton). Unfortunately they were still damp and therefore needed another wash.

My theory on this happened was this:

• Other washer had to leave for the weekend and asked his mate to get his clothes from the drier.
• Mate takes clothes out. Realises they're damp but doesn't really care, doing this is favour enough.
• Other washer comes back from weekend away, looks at clothes. They aren't his.
• Luckily someone has KINDLY AND THOUGHTFULLY left their clothes on the side so he swaps them

Still you live and learn, so I went back to being the nerd reading books in the laundrette. Although I bought a GameBoy Color and started playing Mario Golf not long after.

In other news I only have five days left until I'm married. Yay!

And http://tv.timbormans.com/ is a good youtube/last.fm mashup. Search for uppi17 and enjoy!

Byoing!

Hello readers!

HURRAH! Bran Van 3000 appear to be back!

BAH! Jayne Hill appears to have left...

HURRAH! Pro Evolution Soccer on the Wii is the best football game since SWOS!

BAH! Mario Kart Wii is rather rubbish...

HURRAH! Only one week of Japanese lessons to go!

BAH! I hardly know any Japanese and will probably fail my exam...

HURRAH! Ronald McDonald's sister is cute

BAH! Scarlett Johansson's song isn't as good as I thought it would be...

HURRAH! Stuart Campbell is excellent when he gets annoyed at someone!

BAH! It's not so good when he charges for it, annoys the readers of his forum and then puts in a decent solution, but too late to bring some people back...

HURRAH! People kept looking at this blog even though I haven't updated it for 3 months!

BAH! They appear to only be interested in my one mention of JBL's Mama Juwanna Boner Juice...

HURRAH! The second best wedding of the year went off without a hitch (except well, the obvious one)!

BAH! My latest issue of Word didn't come through the post so I asked for another copy, which arrived but was non-subscription copy and didn't have the free CD...

HURRAH! The Watabe Wedding appears to be going according to plan!

BAH! People have cancelled for annoying reasons... (Anyone want to come instead?)

Reviews Sunday

Tegan and Sara - Leeds Metropolitan University 23/02/2008

It's weird going to see a band you've never really listened to. The songs don't really have the same impact they would if you had spent the whole days leading up to the gig listening to their music (as usually happens with me).

And so it came to pass with Tegan & Sara. I booked the gig despite not knowing much about them & only through listening to their myspace did I decide that they sounded ok. But none of the songs stuck into my head that much so I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it that much.

Things got off to a good start when I saw that at the merchandise stand they were selling Northern State stuff. I remember buying 'Dying In Stereo' and found it to be full of hip-hop goodness. They didn't disappoint either, being exactly what I want in a support act - lots of chatting between songs, not caring about the crowd talking over them, and having fun. Could have mentioned that their new album was produced by Ad-Rock a few less times.

Then Tegan & Sara came out (clever wording I know, cheers). And I kind of felt what it would be like to be at a Take That concert. You see, the crowd for Tegan & Sara was mostly made up of teenage lesbians who gave off an air of indifference, but when their idols came on they screamed like the Beatles at Shea Stadium.

They played songs mostly off their new album (The Con), although I wouldn't have known unless they said. And they sounded pretty good. They had good banter between songs, Tegan appeared to be the more ramblier of the two whilst Sara had the sharp one-liners.

The songs themselves were acousticky-rocky stuff that is rather popular with the younger set (non-emo non-chav division). Certainly nothing to offend the ears and definitely catchy. I shall be checking out more of their music.

Unfortunately we had to leave during the encore to catch our train (the usual excuse of me being tired), so we didn't see the whole thing. I did get to buy the new Northern State album & got it signed by Spero. Didn't ask her why she changed her name from Guinea Love though.

Five out of seven.

(Note: Poorly taken pics to be added tomorrow as my flickr uploaded is on the fritz)

Reviews Sunday

Hello. Today I will be reviewing The Filth by Grant Morrison.

I'm not really sure what to say about this. On one hand it's a good adventure which speeds along at a good pace. On the other hand there were bits of it they made me feel rather ill. Mostly it was the bits that involved sex. Does this mean I'm a prude? Probably.

I liked the majority of it, but I'm not liking the Anders Klimakks bit. That is all.

Four out of Seven.

I will also review Jarvis by Jarvis Cocker. Or, as I agree with everything he said, I will direct you to Matt's comment on a previous entry.

Three out of Seven.

NBPM 13: Forgetfulness

Hmmm. I'm annoyed. I did have a good title for this blog which rather neatly linked to what I was going to write about, but I've now forgotten both the title and what I was going to write. So that's that sketch knackered then. My forgetfulness could be due to the fact that I've been listening to The Donnas on repeat for half an hour. The Donnas are very good, but they're not really music to aid memory.

I'm also annoyed that my new ipod totally fails to upload itself into last.fm like it's supposed to. For some reason the 'smart' playlist fails to record any new songs I've played since Help The Aged. So my last.fm profile appears sparse and does not have any mention of me listening to Flight Of The Conchords throughout lunch today.

I also forgot to mention in my Emmy post yesterday that there was one annoying thing about Emmy's set. There was a person who instead of clapping decided to click his fingers instead. I have no idea why someone would do this, but he found it a worthy replacement.

Other than that I am getting annoyed about forgetting what I wanted to write about. Oh and I keep forgetting to get my watch battery replaced as it's continually five to nine for me. Yes! That was what I was meant to write about. The theme was forgetfulness, but 'Five to Nine' would have been slightly more wittier than forgetfulness.

Not worth the wait that.

Now the only other thing I need to remember to do is buy the new Donnas album. Or put it on my Christmas list. Which I've forgotten to write.

NBPM 12: Emmy

Perhaps it's time for me to talk about the Emmy The Great gig at Kings College London. Yes I think that will do for today's blog.

Pic courtesy of acb as all my pics came out blurry

This was my first time to see Emmy and I was rather excited. I had been listening to her various demo's and official stuff (see itunes) for quite a few months and became rather smitten with her singing.

I knew the day was going to be rather special as Freya & I rather randomly bumped into someone that we had met in Japan and was good friends with my brother. This kind of chance meeting could only happen if the gig was going to turn out nice. Then Andrea, my friend from Uni, showed up so we decided to go to the venue.

After waiting 20 minutes for the venue to open (stupid seetickets printed dodgy tix that said it would open at 7pm) we got inside to be told that the Student Union is on the fourth floor and it would be best to get the lift. So we waited for the lift. When it opened Emmy was already in there trying to look inconspicuous. After we got out I asked Freya & Andrea if they noticed Emmy. They did not.

Freya did talk to Emmy slightly when buying a tshirt. All I did was say "Can I have a CD?". I am useless talking to people I like.

The first band - the Wave Pictures - were alright but didn't set my ears racing. I did like that they had a song about Loughborough, but it didn't mention Brett Davids or The Left Legged Pineapple so I lost interest. I also liked how the bass guitarist had absolutely no pitch at all when singing backing vocals, much like I do when singing hymns at church.

Then on came Effi Briest. They were an all girl band which is usually a sign that I'd like them. But I didn't. Their songs went on too long and didn't really get going. Kind of a Mogwai-ish band and I never really got into Mogwai. Sorry indie kids. The first song was very strange with the lead singer pretty much miaowing into the microphone whilst sat on a stool with her legs wide open. However, they did have a squeezebox player which is a big plus.

Then came Emmy. Except first Young Husband came out to play a few songs, which were very nice and I will subscribe to his newsletter. Except he had to cut his short because they were already near curfew. Apparently they all got stuck in the lift which is why they were slightly late (this was later confirmed by seeing an out of order on one of the lifts).

So then Emmy started playing. And then singing. And all was wonderful*.

Except Freya felt dizzy near the end and had to sit down. But we could still hear (and slightly see) what was going on so we didn't miss out on much.

According to Emmy's myspace blog this was the best gig she's ever done. So I doubt I will go and see her again as she's bound to be worse next time.

* I realise that this is a very poor review, but it was just great. I don't think I can explain it better without going down Superlative Alley. Which is highly boring.

Dream cycle number 4

I usually have absolutely no memory of any dreams that I have while I'm asleep. This is usually a blessing as I am still haunted by two dreams I had when I was about six years old. One involved me riding a motorbike with Gremlins clinging to my face and making the ride really scary. The other was a very weird one where I ate a Ghostbusters lolly - even though I knew it was wrong - which then caused my eyes to go blotchy, similar to when you rub your eyes loads. Then a big curtain fell down and ghosts came out.

Bear in mind I had never watched Ghostbusters or Gremlins until I was at least fifteen. These dreams came solely from my fevered mind and possibly catching a bit of the poster when it was being advertised.

I am pleased to announce that my most recent dreams have been very pleasant. Most strange in what happened, but I've never woken up in a sweat screaming for my Mum from them.

One involved me chatting to TV's famous weather strumpet at some sort of castle (I presume it was Alton Towers). Claire then introduced Emmy The Great, who was playing her guitar to some kids while she was riding a pink flamingo boat ride. As I wanted to speak to Emmy and annoy her with some geeky fanboy worship I walked behind the flamingo along the tracks.

My second dream involved me chatting to Rilo Kiley in a hotel room, which then quickly changed to me walking through a shopping mall, then I noticed two people wearing Double Denim. Seeing a 'quad' of denim made me think of a 'lay-on-lay'. So then I wandered through the mall singing 'Lay-on-Lay-on-Lay' to the tune of 'ole, ole, ole, ole'. Which resulted in me interrupting a wedding by singing this and having a crowd of people following me.

Freya says I cannot do this at our wedding. Even though it was The Best Thing Ever. I had a massive smile on my face all day.

What dreams have you had recently readers? And did they involve obscure songs from kids tv shows?

ABC, 123, XYZ...

...but he don't know about XTC

Regular readers may have noticed I've changed my last.fm chart about four times in the past week. This is because my top ten bands consisted of one band on two plays and then nine on one play. So I changed it to latest tracks. But because my old style said top ten at the top I had to change it.

The first one was too big for the sidebar.

The next didn't look that good.

The third one appeared just right, and it was based on Metric. But then I noticed it only had enough space for about eleven characters per play so it said "Bran Van 3000- Ever" instead of "Bran Van 3000 - Everywhere".

So I've settled for one with Scarlett Johannson in. It'll get me in trouble with Freya as she detests her with a passion. I don't know why as I think Scarlett's gorgeous... Oh wait, I think I get it now.

You say I've nothing left...

...to offer you now

One good thing that came from my interview on Friday (other than the fact the interview went well) was that I remembered how much I loved theaudience. I listened to their songs all the way home on the bus.

I can't really remember why I got into theaudience. I expect it was because I read that a cute girl was their lead singer. That usually got me into liking bands. And it still does (see The Pipettes, CSS, Metric, Long Blondes). But, as with the other bands, I found that I liked theaudience's music as well. More than I found their singer cute.

I recommend you go find their music, it's jangly britpop era but with smarts*. If they're available anywhere. Or ask me to send you some of their tunes.

I even made a website about them, but it got lost in the internet. Perhaps I should bring it back, even if no-one would look at it. I'd know it was there & that's the important thing.

Oh and here's a picture of the lead singer, scanned by my own fair hand.



* Now you know why I don't review music on here

Let's all meet up in the year 2000...

...won't it be strange when we're all fully grown

It's my review of the Year 2006!

Album of the year:
Stefy - The Orange Album
Bit of a hit to my indie styling here, but Stefy have produced a great pop album that cheered me up no end whenever I listened to it. The ballads are bearable, which for a pop album is a thumb up from me. Having sexy groaning on Hey Schoolboy also helps too.


Also rans: J Lewis, Pipettes
As with Stefy the Pipettes have produced an adult pop album, I enjoyed dancing to Pull Shapes whilst doing the washing up. I was really grooving to it. J Lewis & The Watson twins made a country album that was great. No surprises that all my favourite albums had female singers.

Film of the year:
Little Miss Sunshine
Funny, funny film. The ending is a dance scene which is hilarious but also sweet. Made me feel good. Watching this got me into the American Office (due to Steve Carell starring in both) so that's another plus point.

Also ran: The Squid & the Whale
This is the only other film I can even remember seeing at the cinema in 2006. Pretty good, but I still preferred Steve Zizzou (sic?).

Game of the year:
UEFA Champions League (GC)
A game that was released way before 2006, but the most fun I've had at a TV screen with a joypad in my hands. Pretty basic football game, but made better by the presentation. Made me actually feel as though I was the manager. Plus points for having referees that made wrong decisions & including handballs.

Also rans: Psychonauts (Xbox), Phoenix Wright (DS)
Psychonauts should really have been an adventure game rather than a platformer. But the plot and attention to detail in this shone through in the end. Still haven't completed it though. Phoenix Wright was an adventure game and was much better for it. The only problem is that the last episode shows what all of the episodes should have been like. As a reimagining of the graphic adventure though - it succeeds.

Magazine of the year:
Hotdog
Although to be honest all magazines I've bought in 2006 have disappointed me in the end. Hotdog has disappointed me least. Apart from the rubbish subscription distributors - the current issue has been in the shops for two weeks and I still haven't seen it.

Also rans:
NGamer had a great first few issues, but is now going downhill. PC Gamer is alright but I'm never going to get that into PC gaming. Retrogamer is purely good from a nostaglia perspective - if you're looking for anything interesting to read look elsewhere. 2006 was the year I woke up to the fact that men's magazines are useless - the one remaining class act (Arena) was shown to be very superficial and had absolutely nothing of interest in. SFX is doing ok, but doesn't really make me feel included in it. This may be due to the fact I only have a passing interest in Science Fiction.


TV show of the year:
Veronica Mars
Buffy but as a detective show. That's pretty much the best recommendation I can give it.

Also ran: How I met Your Mother
Freaks and Geeks but if it were more of a sitcom. I'm a bit worried that getting Ted & Robin together might Moonlight the show, but hopefully they should be splitting up soon.


Gig of the Year:
Bic Runga @ Fibbers
Bic's backing band was away so we pretty much had an unplugged session. Great voice & great music. Shame I forgot to go and book the tickets for when she returned.

Also rans: J Lewis @ Manchester, Tilly and The Wall @ Fibbers
J Lewis & The Watson Twins sounded sublime. Tilly rocked as much as you can with a tap dancer instead of a drummer. I saw a few of them hanging around before hand and as usual didn't speak to them.

Plans for 2007:
Go to Japan have a great time
This one should be easy (once Halifax let me take money out of my ISA)

Lighten up a bit
I need to be a bit cheerier and not let work affect me so much.

Perhaps join a gym
I think I'd not feel so crap if I did a few exercises every now and then.

Gadget of the year:
G6 U link
Allows me to try before I buy on DS and Gameboy games. Next on my to buy list: Starfox DS - nothing like the original, but still great fun.

Gwenno, Becki, Rose...

1,2,3 let's go!

Dan Aykroyd is making wine.

Is this part of the Sideways effect? Apparently Sideways made wine culture cool again. It's resulted in a bizarre Top Gear meets Food And Drink BBC2 show which is pretty much a copy of Sideways but with far more insults. And now it's caused Dan Aykroyd to invest in Ontario wines.

The thing is Sideways was enjoyable, but it's still not made me want to drink wine. Wine just totally annoys my taste buds. I always think wine should taste like blackcurrant juice as it looks like blackcurrant juice. I know that's not the case, but my tastebuds are expecting blackcurrant juice and they're disappointed with the slightly dry taste that wine gives me.

Similarly I don't like coffee, tea or any hot drink. But I will drink Coke which apparently you could clean your toilet with. My taste buds are weird. They allowed me to eat that dodgy sandwich today that caused me to go to the toilet for a long time.

Anyway, Ontario wines? I think they need more than one million dollars to be invested in them to make them cool. Particularly now Dan Aykroyd invests in them.

Although Dan Aykroyd may be becoming cool again now there's a band (sort of) named after him. Behold:

Dananananaykroyd

Possibly the best name ever for a band, apart from my band which will be called Benji Bear and the Modern Haircuts.