words

Some words... I don't think any explanation is required here

• data
• project
• pasta
• yoghurt
• router
  

And something related - I love how the French say 'wifi' :)

<3

I just wanted to share the lyrics of this song by mesita - they're so incredibly uplifting. You can hear the final edited version here, although the raw demo version of the song is much better. I don't normally warm to songs like this (the style is a bit 70s) but after hearing it the first time I was hooked - how could you not be with such beautiful lyrics?

living/breathing

i'm in love with the world today
and i want to give myself for all of you
i want to be the one you can count on
even in our darkest day

we are seeing
feeling
mystical
things

and we are beautiful
and we are worth it all
and we are living/breathing

i want to tell you all, you mean everything to me
and we are always one even when we disagree
there is something magical here
even when we don't believe

we are loving
bleeding
conscious
things

and we are beautiful
and we can change the world
and we are living/breathing

we are loving
bleeding
conscious
things

and we are beautiful
and we can change the world
and we are living/breathing

gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs: update

Yep, it's been a while - butt is clearly still very lazy.
I came here to start blogging about something (oooohhhh mysterious) but decided the last entry deserved a bit of an update -

2010
#01 01/03 mika @ hammersmith apollo
#02 11/03 stereophonics @ wembley arena
#03 18/03 mgmt @ heaven
#04 06/05 ash @ koko
#05 13/05 the big pink @ the forum
#06 21/05 faithless @ brixton o2 academy
#07 04/06 powderfinger @ brixton o2 academy
#08 05/06 powderfinger @ brixton o2 academy
#09 08/06 crowded house @ hammersmith apollo
#10 23/06 scissor sisters @ brixton o2 academy
#11 24/06 jamiroquai @ club debut (miraculously managed to get through and buy these limited tickets for dirt cheap!)
#12 04/07 foals/2 door cinema club @ roundhouse (won itunes festival tickets! yay!)
#13 12/07 the temper trap @ somerset house (thanks to wonderful vivian for having an amex)
#na 13/07 the middle east @ bush hall (didn't end up going to this because 1 - no one to go with, 2 - already saw them with ttt the night before, and 3 - we were moving house the coming weekend and some serious packing needed to be done... or started...)
#14 15/07 florence @ somerset house
#15 27/08 reading festival
#16 09/09 white rabbits @ relentless garage (so so glad they scheduled a warmup gig last minute!)
#17 11/09 muse @ wembley stadium
#18 22/09 2 door cinema club @ shepherds bush o2 academy
#19 02/10 mumford & sons @ manchester apollo (after having already toured the uk a few times I didn't think they would squeeze in one more round - again so so glad they did!)
#20 04/10 lifehouse @ shepherds bush o2 academy
#21 23/10 mark ronson & the bus. intl @ hmv forum (won tickets! free gig!)
#22 03/11 the black keys @ brixton academy (thanks jim for the free tickets)
#23 27/11 primal scream @ olympia
#24 30/11 the hoosiers @ hmv forum (won tickets *again*!)

so the final count went from 17 to 24...

And 2011? I think the loss of my gigging stalwart (aka Vivian) really will mean that I'm not going to be so gig crazy - really :) So far I only have Lifehouse (yes I really do need to see them again) and Take That. And with Take That I didn't even buy the tickets on the first, or second release of tickets, being rather dubious about whether I really wanted to see them given the cringeworthy duet Robbie and Gary had done, and seeing the very bizarre and cringeworthy video clip for The Flood. But when they released another (final?) round of tickets, I thought I'd try my luck, and I am now the owner of two (currently virtual) tickets to see Take That. I'd been dreading listening to their album for the aforementioned reasons, as well as being slightly disappointed by the reformed TT's 2nd album. But like a good TT supporter I still learnt to enjoy the circus, and thoroughly enjoyed myself at their gig (I did go 3 times... they really do put on a good show!). But I decided to bite the bullet a couple of weeks ago, and acquire the album to give it a listen. And it was surprising. I really think The Flood is a great song now (ignore the video clip). It has some rather dark material in it and their sound has become very electric, clearly Robbie's influence for the former, and likely for the latter too. The first half of the album is actually really good. Second half, is ok, but overall, I am really surprised at how good this album is.

gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs

After 2 years of complete silence, I have finally kicked my lazy butt into action and am breathing a little bit of life back into this blog. What has prompted the resurrection? There have been several times where a passing thought or incident has almost prompted me to start blogging again, but if it isn't already obvious (the title might give it away??) it is the growing realisation that I appear to be addicted to seeing live acts...

This stocktake probably speaks for itself, and note that in 2009 I repeatedly told myself (but gave up by mid-year) I was not going to say yes to everything like I did in 2008 - I didn't *have* to see Madonna... and I probably didn't *need* to see John Mayer... and Powderfinger weren't even headlining the wireless festival... the intention was to decrease the gig count but I ended up doing the opposite...

2008
#01 30/01 plain white ts @ shepherds bush o2 academy
#02 21/05 feist @ royal albert hall
#03 27/06 john mayer @ brixton o2 academy
#04 02/07 jack johnson @ hyde park
#05 05/07 rufus wainwright @ kenwood house
#06 06/07 powderfinger @ o2 wireless festival, hyde park
#07 11/09 madonna @ wembley stadium
#08 09/10 amy macdonald @ roundhouse
#09 19/10 camille @ roundhouse
#10 13/11 james morrison @ the chapel
#11 09/12 coldplay @ secc (glasgow)

2009
#01 18/02 the killers and coldplay warchild concert @ shepherds bush o2 academy
#02 22/02 snow patrol @ bournemouth bic
#03 30/03 james morrison @ hammersmith apollo
#04 08/06 mika @ sadlers wells
#05 16/06 tt @ cardiff millenium stadium
#06 29/06 regina spektor @ serpentine hyde park
#07 01/07 tt @ wembley stadium
#08 03/07 cat empire @ shepherds bush o2 academy
#09 04/07 tt @ wembley stadium
#10 18/08 pearl jam @ o2 arena
#11 22/08 u2 @ cardiff millenium stadium
#12 18/09 coldplay @ wembley stadium
#13 20/10 newton faulkner @ hammersmith apollo
#14 21/10 wolfmother @ coronet
#15 29/10 jack penate @ fridge
#16 10/11 backstreet boys @ o2 arena
#17 12/11 muse @ o2 arena

2010
#01 01/03 mika @ hammersmith apollo
#02 11/03 stereophonics @ wembley arena
#03 18/03 mgmt @ heaven
#04 06/05 ash @ koko
#05 13/05 the big pink @ the forum
#06 21/05 faithless @ brixton o2 academy
#07 04/06 powderfinger @ brixton o2 academy
#08 05/06 powderfinger @ brixton o2 academy
#09 08/06 crowded house @ hammersmith apollo

and coming up...

#10 23/06 scissor sisters @ brixton o2 academy
#11 13/07 the middle east @ bush hall
#12 15/07 florence @ somerset house
#13 27/08 reading festival
#14 11/09 muse @ wembley stadium
#15 22/09 2 door cinema club @ shepherds bush o2 academy
#16 04/10 lifehouse @ shepherds bush o2 academy
#17 27/11 primal scream @ olympia

strange goings on...

Back at the end of January, I noticed these sprouty things popping up wherever there was a patch of green:


This was taken in St James' Square just near work

Now everywhere I go, wherever there's a patch of green, I see something like this:



A very strange, but lovely, phenomenon to behold for the Australian.

currently loving...

this article... Don't get me wrong, I am all for doing my bit for the environment, but sometimes there are extremes, and banning plastic bags is one of them. It's not just a phenomenon that seems to be sweeping Australia, not a week goes by without some mention in the paper of the evil plastic bag here in London (yes, my exposure to printed media is limited to the Metro and the London Paper, but they still report news, even if it is mostly tabloid). It's nice to see someone offering a different perspective.

tremors

Apparently there was an earthquake a fair way north of London last Tuesday night, but the tremors were felt in London. The first I heard of it though was the next morning at work when a colleague mentioned it. I remember being extremely tired on Tuesday night, so it doesn't surprise me that I slept through it. Actually I'm generally a very heavy sleeper - I think the roof would have to collapse before I'd wake up.