Doggy Halloween

The doggy Halloween party went really well! We three decided to dress up, as well as the dogs - any excuse, right? ;) We all had far too much fun. The dogs looked great. And as I guessed Sweepie did not want to take her outfit off at all! Some of my favourites:

The birthday girl dressed as Yoda:



The three witches:



Amber was a cat, with her own cat, Mia:



The three Pugs:



Martha:




Areau:



My mother getting into character...



You can see all the pictures if you click the link below...

DOGGY HALLOWEEN PARTY

I then spent Sunday night in Newport seeing Fightstar. The gig was great but the food we had to eat in a stinking McDonalds beforehand was not so good. Let's just say Jem and I are suffering for it today. We've vowed to never eat in Newport again. It's just so dirty there! But the band were very good and have made it all worth it.



I'm going to catch up on the blogs now. I've fallen behind after the busy weekend so expect lots of catch-up comments ;)

Labels: dogs, fightstar, gigs, halloween, martha, photos, sweepie, video

by Ys | COMMENTS? 4 | permalink |  

Decisions About WWW

I got itchy feet with my writing/author/book website so I did a brand new layout:



What do you think?

I used books because obviously the website is about writing books, and I added pictures of my cute glasses, which are the ones I leave upstairs for when I'm writing. The orange colour just came from the glasses. I also decided to switch the updates over into Blogger because Jem wanted to subscribe to them :) Makes it all look a lot neater now, as well, I think; plus it'll be easier to update now.

That just leaves one more site to work on before I get back to my real job (writing)... my photo site. I'm thinking of closing it down. I never add anything new to it anymore because my photography bug seems to have passed itself onto Ray. I really only liked taking photos of the puppies and live bands anyway. I don't have any more puppies because they grew up (yes I do still love taking pictures of Sweepie but I don't feel they're good enough for a website; they're just for me), and the live bands I do see (if I see any) tend to be getting-squashed-down-the-front bands, where you do not want to take your precious camera (well I don't anyway). So I think the website might soon close down. I haven't decided yet, though.

I'll be a bit behind on the blog-reading today because I'm baby-sitting Falls for my mother (Sweepie's brother) and he needs constant attention. So I'll read the blogs tomorrow. Don't all post a hundred times just because I'm a day behind now, okay? ;)

Labels: Fall Out Boy, gigs, layout, photos, puppies, sweepie, websites, writing

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |  

Games That I Play

I haven't posted since Tuesday! Which means it's February already. I've been so slack with blogging this month. Moving out for the first time is so time-consuming. I just seem to have stuff to do all the time. Like, yesterday, I had Wednesday over to stay for the day so we spent the day playing puppy games, and then she snoozed while I got reaquainted with Halo 1.

The gig completely killed me Wednesday night - hehe, I'm so unfit. Fightstar were great as always; and we had some proper moshers behind us who really picked up the crowd and got everyone going. I'm a little in love with their new single Flood. It's very surreal when you get goosebumps in the middle of a boiling hot, sweaty venue. By the time Coheed & Cambria came on I was feeling a bit queasy. The venue just didn't seem to have any cooling system at all so the air was really hot and sticky. I don't cope well in that kind of atmosphere so I left Ray at the front and went to stand to the side where I could breathe a little better, although not much it has to be said. Surprisingly, by the time Coheed came on the venue was full of a much older crowd who were really nice and friendly. Thankfully the screaming (yes, screaming) kids (yes, children) seemed to have gone home to bed. Don't even get me started on a rant about the random kids who have invaded all of my favourite hang-outs. Goddamn whoever it was that made guitar music cool to the kids. I mean, who the hell are Madina Lake? And why did they make the girls all round me scream and start clutching one another? And what is that crap the singer spouts? We're not about the image, just the music - yeah, right, so why is it you all have the classic Emo Style hairdo's - and the dye jobs? Grr!

Anyway, I spent the Coheed set pretending I was at the gig alone. Sizzle had said she's been to a few on her own and I always wondered if I could do it. It's in fact a lot of fun. You can just stand there and appreciate the music however you see fit. And, like I said, everyone was really friendly. I even got a kiss off a drunk woman I caught. Coheed were really good - totally professional and not a curse word in sight! I'm not a huge fan of theirs but I was a little obsessed with their third album (it's amazing: buy it!). Mostly they played the new stuff so I found myself watching Ray, who was completely lost to the music. I got a little sappy and just spent the entire time smiling over at him, falling in love with him all over again.

Thursday was a killer cos it was food shopping day. I didn't think my aching muscles could carry me (I started the day limping badly on my right leg thanks to an enlarged calf muscle - yum) but I somehow got through it all. Luckily Ray had had an early finish so we could drive instead of having to walk hehe.

Today is the Wales V England Six Nations match. We've decided to pop home to our old local to watch it there with Daddy. I don't suppose it'll be a late one, though. We're already £30 down due to Little Red popping a tyre Tuesday night! Thank heavens for Ray's tips ;)

Labels: coheed and cambria, fightstar, gigs, house stuff, love, music, ray, rugby, wales

by Ys | COMMENTS? 1 | permalink |  

Narnia, Valentines, Gigs & Agents

Have you seen the trailer for the new Narnia film? See It Here. It looks great. I have to admit I only ever knew the story of "The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe" so I have no idea what will happen in this new one. Will it make me want to sit in the back of wardrobes wishing myself into another world?

It's Valentines Day soon. I'm trying to think of a cute present for Ray. It can't cost too much - we are on a tight budget - but has to be something he'll adore. I was thinking of topping up his Red Dwarf collection. No, doesn't sound very romantic but if you knew how much he's watched the other DVD's I got him you'd understand that it would be a present he'd cherish. The only problem is I can't find the one he needs on sale anywhere. So I'm wondering what kind of sappy present can I get a guy? It's easy for him - he can get me flowers and he'll know I'll be extremely impressed (I love getting flowers). But what can I get him?

We're off spending money we can't afford tomorrow. It's our last gig for a long while. The tickets were bought before we'd found the house. We're seeing Coheed & Cambria, with Fightstar supporting. It'll be good but also expensive. I hate being on a budget hehe.

There's some trouble with the estate agent who's renting us the house. Luckily we've been in contact with the landlord seperately because of a toilet malfunction (note to all potential landlord: do not fit Saniflo systems cos when they break your tenents will have no toilet, bath, shower or water of any kind in the bathroom). He called last night to ask if we'd had any confirmation letters from the agent because he hadn't heard anything from them. He wasn't even told we'd moved in 'til a week after! He's worried the agent has pocketed our money. So we trundled down to see the agent last night and asked for photocopies and receipts and he gave them to us happily enough. Couldn't really argue, could he? The landlord has told us if the agent doesn't show him some proof - and money - by the time the rent's due (which is next week) he's going to get us to cancel our direct debit mandate and we'll sign a new deal directly with him. Phew! What a mess! But the landlord is a nice guy and he's assured us we're perfectly safe, he isn't going to kick us out, and we won't lose out on any money; he says the person who'll be out of pocket will be him. He'd just wanted to warn us that things weren't going well with the agent.

Why do these things always happen to me?

Labels: coheed and cambria, estate agent, fightstar, films, gigs, house stuff, landlord, presents, ray, renting, valentines day

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Take That & Party

Seeing Take That was lots and lots of fun - as always. Because it was up in Manchester we had a long drive ahead of us. We sang along to all the Take That albums and I took some photos of the scenery, been as we'd taken the scenic route instead of the motorway way.



We got into Manchester at about four. Everyone drives crazy there. They were doing U-turns in the middle of the busy main road! Because we got lost we decided to join in with the manic driving hehe. When we finally did get into the hotel we all went a bit insane. I laughed so much I collapsed on the floor and nearly vomited. Mammy always makes me laugh like a crazy person hehe. Check out the view of the Manchester Wheel from my hotel window:



This is what I wore to the gig, although the picture was taken after it cos we'd forgotten to take pictures before we left. That's the cardigan I got in Portugal last year and I still adore it :)



Well, the show itself, what can I say? I don't think it's possible to ever have a bad Take That show. Every one I've been to has been full of energy and light and excitment. And Friday night was no exception. I danced and sang my ass off. I took a couple of crappy pictures on my phone...





They're all looking so much older than they did when I saw them last year... And I like it ;) It's so sexy. Mmm. Hehehehe. Honestly, if you get a chance to see this band: do it! They will not disappoint. If you can't get a ticket, go and buy one of their Live DVD's, cos even on the TV screen the shows look amazing.

After very little sleep (Mammy snores very loudly), and a lovely huge breakfast, we headed home again. We passed this really creepy looking tree-guy. I didn't get a great picture of him but, well, he still creeps me out!



What is he all about?

Now I've got a present to get completed by Christmas Day... I dunno if I'm going to get it finished on time. Still, I wouldn't have missed Take That for the world ;)

Labels: christmas, gigs, mammy, photos, presents, take that

by Ys | COMMENTS? 1 | permalink |  

Taste of Chaos 2007

I am back from the Taste of Chaos Tour. Want a little review?

We started queuing at about 5pm. For once there were people queuing pre-gig so we were round the other side of the building. Fine by us cos we still hadn't decided where we were going to stand. It was freezing in the queue. I tried to steal all of Ray's unnatural heat but even that didn't work! We finally got into the venue (Newport Centre) at 6pm. We were front row as always. Within five minutes the first band was on, which was great for me cos I hate waiting around for the gig to start hehe.

My Favourite Porn Star were the winner of the Battle of the Bands competition, so they were our Local Band. They were good - obviously new and therefore very excited to be on stage. I was a little worried when the young singer stripped off his top cos, well, he looked extremely young and I just felt the mother in me worrying that he'd catch a cold, what with his little boy-boobs out and sweaty in Newport on a cold night. They performed for about fifteen minutes.

There was then a twenty minute wait until The Blackout appeared. I've seen them live lots of times cos they seem to support every band I see. I was impressed the first time I saw them but they have gone very quickly down hill since then. This time didn't improve my opinion on them. They decided to announce that if the crowd enjoyed the song they were about to sing they should sing along, but if they didn't then they should boo. Of course some people booed, one person shouted out that they were crap, and the bands' egos just couldn't take it. They proceeded to very lamely slag off the guy, saying something along the lines of "I have the mic', you're just one guy in the middle of this place. Come back here when you're the one on stage." Hmm. Then a kid down the front said he wanted to see one of the other bands not them, and again their egos were bruised. Their fantastic comeback was to tell the kid that he should go up the back of the room and have a wank. Witty boys, huh? There was quite a lot of stuff chucked at them and they got very clingy with one another. I'd have felt sorry for them if they weren't such a bunch of egos!

After another short break, on came Gallows. I'd been told the singer was "scary" and "abusive" so when I saw his skinny ass walking on stage I wondered if perhaps I'd been told wrongly. He wasn't scary or abusive, in fact he was quite funny. He did insult some of the crowd but he just made me laugh. He came on and introduced the first song, muttering something like, "Let's get this done so we can all go home." And then some people started shouting that he was ginger and he came back with, "I wish someone had told me that twenty-three years ago." He just made me laugh. He wasn't fazed by the crowd and I liked it that he couldn't be bothered to try to win us over. The songs were okay. I wouldn't buy an album but they were pleasant enough.

Twenty minutes later came Aiden. I know they have a lot of fans so if you are a fan skip this next paragraph cos really all I'm gonna do is slag them off. I've seen a lot of bands live but this one were just awful. The singer was so cringesome I literally wanted to scratch the skin off my face. If we weren't enjoying his "performance" then we were "faggots". Well, I'd happily be a faggot, thanks. He then proceeded to bitch at the people up the back in the stands, who were mostly parents there with their kids (yes, the crowd were that young). He slagged them off again and then chucked a bottle of water at them, which hit a couple of girls. Nice. At least someone in the crowd did hit him with a bottle. That pissed him off. He basically slagged us all off. Is this the new thing now? That you see a band and they bitch at you? Well, fuck that!

I was glad when they disappeared.

Next up was Rise Against. I didn't know what to expect from them cos I'd been told they were the most mellow of the line-up. Turns out they were the best. They were actual grown-ups, didn't once slag us off, and just played their songs like proper musicians. There was no prancing, no hype, just the songs. And they were damn good songs, too. I'm investing in an album as soon as I have the funds.

I was expecting there to be about an hour wait for The Used just cos they always keep us waiting. But at 10pm the lights went down and on the band came. They totally made the crappy line-up worth it. They were bloody fantastic! Bert was on form and sang/screamed every word of each song. I pretty much went crazy when they came on. I nearly lost my jeans several times - why is it I can't find a pair of jeans that won't fall down when I'm jumping about? They sang a lot of the old stuff, which made me happy, but plenty of the new album as well. "Lies for the Liars" was so, so good. I have a couple of noisy vid's:

All That I've Got, which turned into a medley of older songs, and Paralyzed, which was when Bert got a lot of the crowd up on stage with him.

I scratched the hell out of my voice. It actually tore on the last song - oops. Before I knew it the hour was up and the band were saying their goodbyes. I can't believe how fast the hour went by. The lights came up, we limped out the venue, found the car and drove home.

It's taken until today for my cold to come out. I blame all the kids in the audience - they always have bugs. We have all promised not to ever do another Taste of Chaos gig unless the line-up has some decent bands, which isn't likely. So the lead up was crap, the bands were insulting and not very good, but The Used made the whole night worth it. Now I need to crawl back into bed and sleep off my illness.

Labels: gigs, taste of chaos 2007, the used, video

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Cleaning and Tweaking

I got a bit mopey last night. I think it was a comedown from the weekend. Back to normal life is always a little depressing, isn't it? After a good whine to Ray I felt a lot better. Today I spent the morning cleaning - and I only ever clean when I'm happy. Even got the mop out as well!

This afternoon I worked on my writing site and have now got a very pretty layout. It's very similar to how it was but I've just tweaked a few things here and there and, in my opinion anyway, I think it's looking much better.

CHECK IT OUT HERE

I've added a Buy My Book banner on the left << but it's too big for the page so I've had to shrink it. It doesn't look as good as it did so I think this may be the excuse I need to make a new layout for the blog. I've had this one for ages now - probably the longest blog layout to stick around! I haven't got a clue what I want the new layout to look like so I wouldn't be expecting anything to appear any time this week.

I don't think I mentioned but... I'm going to see The Used on Thursday so will be awol for the day. It's part of the Taste of Chaos Tour. So far the venue has been changed and the door times so I'm a little concerned that the gig might suddenly get cancelled. Should be a good night if it does go ahead. Although, to be honest, I either don't like or don't know the other bands on the bill. So I may become a fan or else be really bored until The Used come on stage.

Labels: gigs, layout, life, ray, self-publishing, the used, websites, writing

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

A Weekend of Quitting

I quit with the PHP. But not before I got it work for me, of course. I'm not that much of a quitter. I tried FlexPHPnews but I think I was just on a Stupid Day cos although I worked out the hard stuff - such as setting up the MySQL database and uploading the actual programme, I then couldn't for the life of me figure out where I was meant to upload the content. I had no programme to open. I logged in but then it just took me to the page I was trying to update. So I quit on that and searched around until Cute News seduced me. I took a few hours to familiarise myself with it, learn the codes and stuff. But once I figured it all out I realised it didn't really do what I wanted it to, which was organise the press on the site. It's more for updating news not archiving. So I've decided, although it may take some work, I'm going to do it by hand. If I use frames it'll be simple but I don't know if I want to... We'll see.

So, in the list of Things I Quit This Weekend you can add PHP.

Next, I quit on the rugby (local). In fairness I was told we couldn't get a lift down or back (to feed the dogs at dinner time) but even if I'd not been told that I wouldn't have wanted to go. Me and the rugby just aren't gelling anymore. The boys I was friends with don't talk to me anymore - bar one who probably only still talks to me cos he's in love with Jem. All the older guys say hello but there's a definite sense of you broke the rules from them cos we said they had drug problems in the club (which they do); but that's apparently not a thing to be said aloud.

I did go down to the pub in the evening, though, to watch the rugby (national). The young boys sat by us and entertained me with their usual sex-obsessed ways. I swear they think of nothing else. They also wrongly guessed me and Jem's ages. They said I was twenty-two and she was nineteen.

After that we felt we should show our support by attending the do upstairs. Most of the team went off into town so there was some upset from the committe members. I think there was about twenty of us up there watching a band called Voodosnakes. I'm sure they were great for everyone over the age of forty but for me they just weren't really my thing.

So halfway through the set, when they went on their break (they'd only been playing for fifteen minutes so why they needed a break I don't know), me, Jem and Ray disappeared downstairs, and then outside, and then home.

Today Ray and I were meant to be going to see Stardust in the cinema. I quit on that cos I just wasn't feeling too good. We went for a wander round our usual favourite place on a Sunday afternoon and even then didn't up buying anything; just spent a long time spraying each other with perfume testers to see if we liked any (we didn't). I got ill (dizzy and nauseous) and flaked out on the bed for a while. We then had a yummy chinese take-away mmm. And Amber's adorable friend Dan came round to try and fix our computer. His allergies were really bad so despite my best efforts (well, I did find a box of allergy tablets in the back of the cupboard after hearing him sniffling and sneezing continuously), he had to go home to finally be able to breathe.

Unfortunately I'm still on my period. I hope this is just a side-effect of starting the Pill and not going to be a continuous thing. Cos by day five I'm usually almost at the end of my cycle; the way I am now it looks as though it's going to hang on for a few more days yet. So I had to quit on sex as well, which I wasn't best pleased by.

Tomorrow Daddy and Ray are fixing the new wood floor in the living-room, which means I have to clear out the cupboard so they can move it out of the room. But the good news is this is all being done for Madge and the babies, who should all be with us by this time next week.

I'm glad to say goodbye to this weekend. And I didn't even mention the wisdom tooth pain (one of them is on the move)!

Labels: amber, daddy, gigs, jem, life, madge, puppies, ray, rugby, websites

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Fightstar - TJ's, Newport

The Fightstar gig did go ahead, even though Lexi had laryngitis and Charlie had a throat infection. They'd been told by doctors to cancel the gig but they'd decided against it - and I was so glad of that :)

Like at the Editors gig there wasn't a huge queue when we wandered down at about 6pm so we went back to the pub up the road for a drink. We went back down half an hour later and met up with a cute boy we'd met at the last Fightstar gig we'd been to. He had a girl with him who I think wanted to be his girlfriend and she wasn't pleased by our presence to start with - what with us being in our twenties and they being only about fifteen. But after some bonding over the awful toilets in the venue everything was much better.

It was in TJ's in Newport (yes, I was back in Newport again), but it wasn't like the last time I went, which had the potential of being the best or worst gig of my life. Luckily, it was the best. But this time we found they'd moved the stage across the other side of the room. It wasn't any more safe than where it had originally been. If you get crushed there's nowhere to go cos the bar is right up against the stage, and against the bar are all the amps. Jem and I decided not to go down the centre and so went to the left of the stage. Lucky really cos one of the support acts, with his bottle of wine (oh how rock 'n roll), decided to repeatedly jump into the crowd, crushing the kids in the front row. It looked fun but I would never have held him up. In fact when he came over our side everyone sarpered so he couldn't jump off onto us, which really made me laugh, cos there was just one girl stood there in the middle of this huge circle of emptiness. Hehehe.

Fightstar didn't come on 'til gone ten, which is stupidly late really. But as soon as they came on, ill or not, they got the crowd going. I pretty much died during the forty minutes they were on stage for. I jumped, I pushed, I sang along, I sweated. It was great but it was exhausting.



You can see a video Jem posted on Youtube HERE.

They played pretty much all my favourite songs, and Charlie seemed to be feeling very sentimental and kept thanking us all for supporting them, etc. Bless. He and Lexi did look seriously sick, though. Poor lambs.

I managed to crawl back into the bar after the gig and deafened the poor girl taking my order - I'd spent the gig stood in front of a speaker and so was deaf. I drank that drink down in one go and then finished half off Jemma's as well. I don't know how I got out of the chair; I don't even know how I limped back to the hotel. Omahr was outside signing autographs as we wandered past and I got on the phone to Ray to squee on about the gig.

Back at the hotel, having said goodnight to Ray, I collapsed facedown on the floor. I managed to roll over and drag myself up onto the bed. Jem and I spent the rest of the night eating Salt N Vinegar Pringles while babbling our way through a weird film where some men were climbing a mountain in a snowstorm - and they all kept dying. I don't know how it ended cos I fell asleep.

Getting home the next day was awful. We got up early so we could take advantage of the free breakfast at the hotel. So we caught an earlier train home than what we were meant to. But the train was so slow that we ended up missing our bus home. So we had to hang around in town for another hour or so. Then the bus was late. And it was the bus that drops us off about two miles from home so we had to walk. Urgh. I got back to find a rather big bruise covering my left knee/leg from the gig, which I'm quite proud of :) I fell asleep within fifteen minutes of getting home. Sweepie curled up on my shoulder and we stayed that way for two hours. Yum.

Now it's back to normal routine again, which isn't fun. I'm having some problems with my parents and their ... I don't even know how to word it. I don't even know if I want to blog about it. Families, eh? They're all insane. At least I'll be out of here in a few months - and until then I will have puppies to occupy my thoughts with in a couple of weeks. I should just let the rest of my family do their thing and not let it encroach on my own life, right? Yeah, that sounds sane.

Labels: family, fightstar, gigs, life, photos, public transport, video

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Editors - Newport Centre

I went to see the Editors last night. And it was such a very, very good gig.

I wasn't sure what to expect from an Editors gig. Their music is quite subdued so I was expecting lots of couples (I was right), maybe an older crowd (I was right), and for it to be quite mellow (I was wrong). Thom jumped around like a loony and was very entertaining! I also now have a small crush on Chris, who has the most perfectly smooth, feminine arms.

No one queued before the gig, though. We wandered past at 5:30 and there was no one there. We came back at 6:30 and there was eight kids. We joined and about ten more people followed behind us. By the time the first support act came on - Ra Ra Riot - the front row was in and about twenty people on the seats behind - that was it. The room was empty! By the time the second support act had finished - The Kiss Away Trail - the room was finally full and it felt much more like a normal gig.

The Editors were next and they played amzingly. They really got the crowd going and were very upbeat and fun. We had some moshers behind us and a few crowd surfers (who pissed off the older crowd). Ray got elbowed a couple of times by an over-excited pogo-er but he was very polite and rubbed Ray's ouch's better ;)

I took a couple of crappy pictures with my not-so-good phone, one of Thom, the other of Chris:



And here's a video (again, not very good):

Labels: gigs, photos, ray, the editors, video

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Talk, Watch, Hear, Wait

I'm feeling a lot better today. Someone who needed to talk talked to me last night. I sometimes wish people found it as easy to talk as I do. The truth just comes spilling out whether I want it to or not. I think the only time I become tight-lipped is if something is really wrong or if I believe I'm having an hysteria attack over something I've just made into a big deal in my own head. Talking is good: everyone should do it more.

So hopefully this should be a good weekend. It's going to be the first one where no one's been ill or injured or tired I've experienced in about a month now. My weekend's have gone very weird. It feels like I have two Sunday's; Saturday's disappeared. This weekend we're going back to the cinema. To see The Simpsons's movie this time. I wish cinema trips were cheaper cos I'd love to every week. It costs about £7 per ticket, though. I remember the days when you could see a film for under a fiver! Ahh, I'm getting old... ;)

It's still not decided whether or not I'm seeing Amy Winehouse. I'm skint so Ray would be buying the tickets, but he's finally buying Little Red (a car) off his boss so isn't feeling very flushed at the moment. I'd rather move out than see Amy so I don't mind waiting 'til the next tour. Watch this space.

I just checked my site stats and, totally copying Fink Angel, I had to share what searches have brought people here. A lot about bruised feet (nice to see I'm not the only one who suffered a bizzare foot injury); picture of tonsilitis - I've never seen a picture of tonsillitis but I want to! The weirdest and most disturbing was: llyn llech owain pussy... What can I say? I didn't know there was any of that business going on down there, and especially not posted online. What kind of filth is going on down in that woodland park? Hmm makes me want to google it to find out... No, just did it and there was no porn there. Very strange. Aww and one person just googled my name: Ys. For the record that search wasn't related to the pussy search.

There might be some minor site interruptions over the weekend. I'm meant to be moving to a new server tomorrow. There isn't supposed to be any downtime but when do these things ever pan out? Next week there's going to be an announcement...

Labels: amy winehouse, cinema, films, gigs, life, the simpsons, websites

by Ys | COMMENTS? 0 | permalink |  

Whatever

Life sucks.

But I might be getting to see Amy Winehouse, if I'm lucky.

Bleurgh.

I wish it would stop raining.

Labels: amy winehouse, gigs, life, weather

by Ys | COMMENTS? 1 | permalink |  

It's A Jungle Out There

My babies are having a growth-spurt! Check out my baby cucumber (that sounds awfully dodgy):



Isn't he getting big? (This is still sounding dodgy.)

My tomatoes look a big stringy but the on the left shot up overnight - I promise you it wasn't there yesterday. And there's a little baby one in one of the other pots as well.



And I cannot, will not, forget about my peas, who grew first. I have another proper pea-shoot growing in one of the other pots as well.



And, drum roll please, I have finally grown the beginnings of a pepper! No, I didn't kill them all before they even had chance to grow - one is trying, it's fighting it's way to fresh air and sunshine (won't find much of that at the moment but maybe one day soon we'll see the sun again).



I am very impressed with myself. Hehehe.

And in non-related news: I should be getting tickets to see The Editors tonight, a present from Ray :) It'll be our first gig on our own, cos usually Jem comes with us to the gigs cos we all like the same bands.

Time to pray for some sun so more of my peppers will grow...

Labels: gigs, photos, the editors, veg

by Ys | COMMENTS? 1 | permalink |  

The Used/The Local Election

I saw The Used on Wednesday down in Cardiff Uni. They were so very good - as of course I knew they would be. Before they came on I watched Bert chatting to the support guys, playing it cool and not waving like a loonie ;) He knew I was watching, though, so I doubt very much that I looked in any way calm and cool, hehehe. The good thing was that when he came on stage later he gave us lots of Bert Stares (yum) until he got bored and moved onto the kids in the centre of the front row. We got lots of new tracks - much more than I was expecting actually. It was a really relaxed show actually; much like watching a sound check rather than an actual show. We all bounced hard though hehe. It was Ray's first show and I think he nearly soiled himself with excitement. It was so weird seeing someone experience their first gig at the age of twenty! Cute, though, very cute. And talking of all things cute: Bert looked adorable. And he had some cute red trainers on. He did need a shave though. The grizzly was just a little bit too grizzly for my taste. He spent most of the night eyeing Quinn's arse as well ;) The encore was really fun. I just giggled throughout cos Bert was being particularly silly. I have no idea what happened to Jepha though. Quinn got out his acoustic and Jepha didn't come back on. Never mind. It was weird cos we had a slow song to end the set and usually we have a really loud one. It was a nice change actually. I think Bert had a bad throat. He was on the herbal tea all night, and was spraying the back of his throat with stuff. You couldn't tell anything was wrong, though. As always, they were great :) I hope they come back soon!

Then, the following day I had to go and vote. If you didn't vote (UK people, obviously) then I really don't know what to say to you. I have never ever understood this lame excuse of "they're all the same; they do nothing for me." If you live here: vote for who rules you!

Anyway, because of the shitty-shitty-shittiness of Labour round here I voted for Plaid Cymru. Yes, they are very Welshy and that can be a little annoying but I think they'll look after us better here in Llanelli than Labour have. Put it this way: under Labour we are losing Prince Philip Hospital, the bus fares have gone up by 25p in the rural areas and are increasing every couple of months, we've had a shortage of dentists, our old buildings are getting torn down, new houses are going up everywhere! Nope, sorry, but Labour have done really bad things here. Lets see what Plaid can do.

THE RESULTS FOR LLANELLI, AND OVERALL IN WALES.

This, of course, has nothing to do with my support for Labour in the National Elections. My life is good because of Labour. It's just a shame that my constiuency is bad because of it. Local and National Elections are not the same thing to me at all. That's why when Labour's Catherine Thomas came on TV at twelve and started bitching about how she'd only lost because of people not liking Tony Blair, that Plaid, the Tories and Lib Dem's had banded together and decided Plaid would take her on, rather than splitting the votes so that there was one clear anti-Labour vote - that really pissed me off. My vote is about my life and how it's affected and how those around me are affected. I don't give a shit about what's going on in Westminster when I'm voting for my local AM. You lost, Catherine, because you've done nothing but bad things here! Take responsibility for your actions and quit shifting the blame. Bloody politicians!

I had a fun night watching the results anyway. Huw Edwards was so, so funny. I sat up 'til 4am and then decided I'd better get some sleep.

So a good forty-eight hours for me containing two of my favourite things: live music and politics.

Labels: cardiff, elections, gigs, labour, plaid cymru, politics, the used, voting

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Gigs, Gigs, Mmmm Gigs

I've just bought tickets to see The Used in Cardiff for May :D



It's been nearly eighteen months since I last saw them - far too long! They're finally back in Wales! I'm taking Ray as well been as I got him into them so badly, plus he's never been to a big gig before so I figured it was a nice way to break him in gently ;) I am so happy now! This week was starting to look like a truly shitty one but at least there's one bit of goodness in it now :)

Oh and it looks as though I am going to the re-scheduled date of the Deftones gig next month. Jem can't find anyone else to go (I have asked her too keep on looking but I'm not holding out much hope) so I don't really have much of a choice. There's a loose plan of maybe dragging Ray along too so at least we can all spend my birthday together but considering it's a weekday and he's got work I can't see that one panning out. We'll wait and see what happens yet.

So who's going to come visit Wales next? Considering the in thing at the moment is to pretend Wales doesn't exist I'm quite surprised I've got The Used coming back - some American's know we're here ;)

Labels: deftones, gigs, ray, the used

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Cancelled Gigs, Shopping & New Layout

Here's the new layout. Halo inspired, of course. I'm still tweaking bits here and there but it's pretty much finished. Does it work on everyone else's computer's cos I'm having a few problems with Blogger cos I'm using a frame?

Sunday I went to Bristol to see The Deftones. I think I mentioned this gig before. It wasn't one I chose, it's one of my sister's; so I wasn't overly excited about it. I really like their "White Pony" album, though, so I was sure I'd enjoy it. But we got to the gig at about 6pm only to find that the show had been postponed due to illness. Bloody great! So we spent the night in the hotel eating chocolate and watching strange TV.

The next day we got to shop in Cardiff on our way home. I bought a new pair of jeans, a pink jumper and a white shirt with pink lines on to go with it. Gorgeous! I'll have to get some pictures of them :) I didn't find any shoes, though, which was what I was meant to be buying. Oops.

I didn't get home 'til about 4:30pm and spent the night slobbed out, resting my aching feet and shoulders. Then this morning Jem told me that the Deftones gig had been re-scheduled to, wait for it, a day before my birthday. I was meant to be spending three days at Ray's then but I have this awful feeling I'll be spending the day of my birthday on a train. Not something I'm looking forward to. Of course if I don't go then I'll be the super bitch who let down my sister when she always goes to gigs with me. No win situation. Why didn't they just re-schedule it for the day before? I'm not impressed - at all.

I'd better go walk Sweepie then. Little stinker missed me while I was gone, bless her, so I've had her in my lap pretty much the entire time I've been home. Aww, it's nice to be loved.

Labels: deftones, gigs, layout, shopping, sweepie

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Reading, Watching, Singing, Inventing

I was strangely excited about the dog-sitting this time. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it was just the thought of some peace and quiet - my house is a little on the crazy side, what with five adults living there all coming and going at all times of the day and night, and a heap of animals who are not quiet and certainly like to make their presence known. Hey, I'm not complaining; I'm just saying it how it is. So some time away is always nice.

I think I've spent most of time reading - at crazy person speed. I finished "Idelwild" yesterday and got straight onto "Edenborn". So far I'm disappointed with the sequel. All the reviews went on how about amazing it was but... I'm not so sure yet. I think the problem is I fell in love with the characters in the first book and in this sequel they're all middle-aged, and when I say "all" there's actually only four of them that you hear about - and only one who you get to read about. I like Halloween. He was dark and moody and typically teenage-angst. He's now nowhere to be found. Unless he's the nutter who wants everyone dead. I guess I just loved the first book so much - it was really, really clever - that the sequel was always going to be a bit of an anti-climax. I hope it saves its own ass by the end. edit: Please don't think I'm dissing Nick Sagan cos I'm not. Proof? I bought the third in the series to read hehehe. Everfree by Nick Sagan. If I'd have known it was a trilogy I wouldn't have got so down on "Edenborn". The second installment of a trilogy is always the weakest of the three. Just the way the world works.

I've managed to squeeze in some TV watching. Of course. I don't have Sky at home so when I come here I make the most of trashy TV. Strangely, I've seen four episodes of "The Simpsons" I've never seen before, which never happens. So that was nice. I also managed to catch some lovely spine-tingling brotherly love between Nick and Arron Carter on the insane "House of Carters". Yes, they're a pair of dopes and, no, I don't really fancy them, and, of course, they are brothers so it makes my thoughts very wrong, but I can't help it. Declarations of love left right and centre, hugs and kisses and all that blonde hair - it always turns my head.

Tonight I'm going to watch Final Fantasy VII. I saw some of it at Ray's before getting distracted so nicked it to watch while I'm here cos it looked quite good. Pretty, if nothing else. I never really got the whole anime thing but I do like pretty things and this film looks very pretty.

The Deftones are playing right now. Jem compiled two CD's for me, which make up the set-list for their future gig in Bristol, which I am attending with her. I like the Deftones in that way where when she plays the albums I don't have to leave the room or start nagging her to turn them off. Chino has a lovely voice. I saw him for the first time the other week - what a cutie, too. Honestly, I'm a little apprehensive about the gig. Cos they're not one of my bands so I don't them that well. Hence why Jem has made me the CD's. She even printed out the words for me cos she knows how sadly I'm into lyrics.

Talking of live shows - I spent two hours yesterday morning trying to buy tickets to see Take That on their new tour in December. Of course, they are quote-unquote "cool" now so every one in Britain wants tickets to see them. The websites crashed, phone lines permanently engaged. It was looking hopeless when they released six new dates - split equally between London and Manchester. So we got tickets for Manchester. Cos we love it up there. And we didn't want to miss out on seeing the boys - men - cos we haven't missed a tour yet. So it should be good. I have to wait 'til next week to find out where my seats are, though. Damn, Seetickets. They're a bit shoddy. But what can you do when Ticketmaster crashes under the strain of it? You'd think they'd be more properly prepared; it's not like anyone is surprised by the demand for the tickets.

There's something in that, you know? I could invent a ticket website that doesn't crash when it's hit on my millions of people. Hmm... I wonder if that could be done...

Labels: books, deftones, dog-sitting, films, gigs, take that, tv

by Ys | COMMENTS? 0 | permalink |  

How To Sell Out

Continuing on with yesterday's music theme: Fall Out Boy.

I first saw Fall Out Boy in February 2005 in a tiny, dark club in Swansea. I actually preferred the second support-act Spitalfield and the FOB boys watched me dancing and singing along. By the time FOB came onstage I could only see the top of Patrick's head. There was a bit of a crush down the front but I was safely standing behind, enjoying the songs I'd recently heard on Take This To Your Grave. I went home sweaty and happy but definitely preferring Spitalfield.

When Dance, Dance was released last year I became a little obsessed with it. I don't know why; it just sounded really good to my ears. I bought tickets to see them live again and bought the new album. I was completely oblivious to the fact that FOB had become "cool". I thought they were still that kooky unknown band from Chicago. I had heard about Pete's exposure on myspace (or was it youtube?) but that was about it.

I went to see them live in a slightly bigger venue than the first time. This was a sport's hall not a nightclub. Although I had no intention of needing to be down the front so queued late, I actually ended up second row. I should have sniffed out something was wrong then. The only way you can get that good a view after queueing so late is when a heap of young kids are in and don't want to stand down the front so mill around and let late-arrivers nick the good spots. When the young girl in front of me nearly threw up between support-acts because it was hot and people were pressing against her I really should have noticed things had changed. When FOB came on they were amazing live - so much better than they had been the first time. I was a little embarrassed cos I didn't know the words to the new album as well as I knew the older stuff. Turned out that was the complete opposite of everyone else. When FOB played the stuff from "Take This To Your Grave" everyone was quiet and I was stood there singing along, doing the bunny-hop thing. Joe looked impressed to have found someone who knew the old stuff - I just assumed everyone did.

I got home, vowing I'd see them live every time they came back to the UK. But during the six months that led up to that point FOB became the new cool band among the cool music press (NME in particular adore them). They were suddnely everywhere doing magazine covers, strange interviews, even turning up at schools for Radio 1. Maybe it was over-exposure that turned me off them, maybe they really did "sell out".

I'd always laughed at that phrase before. Just because an unknown band you like becomes big that does not mean they sold out - it means they just got lucky and are finally getting the recognition they deserve. But with FOB I noticed a whole new image overhaul. The main one being that their song titles are now short and have everything to do with the song, which is just not the norm. Their new music doesn't have the grimy, uhh! feeling that the original stuff did; now they're quite glossy and pop. So I fell out with them.

But last night, while spending an evening hopping through the music channels with Ray, I forgave them. Maybe it's just cos I can't resist a chubby blonde boy ;) The new song "Arms Race" is catchy and fun and considering I'm not feeling exactly down and out and in need of angry music telling me that life can often be shitty, I should probably embrace the new bouncy side of FOB's repotoire. The cool music press and fans will find a new fad soon enough and then actual fans (new and old) can be left in peace once again :)

So FOB are back on my to-see-live-this-year list.

Labels: Fall Out Boy, gigs, music

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I Miss Music

The Used have a new DVD/CD out next week. I've been watching the previews over on their myspace page for the last few weeks so am suitably excited about getting it. It's called Berth and is all live - yum. It sort of cheers me up after I couldn't see them at the gig in Birmingham cos it cost about £50 - and that's just tickets alone. Being poor sucks sometimes.

I've also missed out on seeing my other favourite band - Thirteen Senses. They're not playing Wales (boo) and I can't see them when they're down in Bristol cos Jem's already bought tickets to see The Deftones for two days before! What are the odds of that happening?

I'm missing my gigs. I haven't been to a proper gig since last October. I'm missing seeing my bands live. Why are they not touring?

That's my New Year's Resolution: go to more gigs! Of course that means my favourite bands must make their own Resolution: to tour Wales! I hate it when my favourite bands all disappear at the same time.

Labels: gigs, music, the used, thirteen senses

by Ys | COMMENTS? 0 | permalink |  








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