An odyssey of sorts.....

Happy New Year!!!!

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 21:50:53 GMT

2005 was great....I'm sure 2006 will be equally as stimulating.
All the festivities mean I am now going to bed to recharge my batteries.

Not one for advertising but....

Fri, 23 Dec 2005 21:56:27 GMT

This is a festive post.....
Wow I can recommend Sainsbury's "Taste the Difference" extra thick double cream with "Remy Martin" cognac -great served with a mince pie but even better straight from tub to mouth!!!

Alphabetti Spaghetti (this heading has no relevaance to the posting but I like the rhythm of it!)

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 20:58:52 GMT

Saturday went to London - Met up with a few friends that I made while travelling the globe earlier in the year. A good meal at an exotic asian restaurant - proudly used chop sticks! Then a cultural tour of the funky clubs of Old Street lots of shenanigans, laughter and merriment. Then coolest of all ended up at Adele's flat - she lives in a church in central London. Honest! The church is used for services about 3 times a year. 3.00am spent in the cloisters and exploring the crypt - that's fun!
Sunday - good old Resurgence - failed to convince the intrepid explorers to make the journey to Portsmouth for a boogie. Their loss!

Greetings from a cold place.

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 19:50:08 GMT

Hey Hey or a festive Ho Ho - not even Gate Gourmet could stop my travels this time! Arrived in New York last Wednesday and now I'm off in a sip of my latte to Newark to catch the plane home. The days / nights have blurred into one, simply zoomed by. Finding a cheap internet booth was a hard task so a precis on what I've done.
Culture for the mind, body & soul:
Swayzac - groovy tech house boys - Wednesday 7th,
Depeche Mode - whippersnappers on the block - Madison Square Gardens - Thursday 8th,
Sleep - Friday 9th,
Albion - Club - Saturday 10th, Dark corridors & 3 Floors: goth, EBM & Techno. Note no pandering to rock!!!!! Also a performance by Gene Loves Jezebel - well Michael Aston acoustic set - what a bonus.
Byte - Club - Sunday 11th - Synthpop, EBM, Go - Go dancers & debauchery. Exactly what a club should be like.
Oh and some art galleries as well.
Actually lots of anecdotes, stories and tales to tell. They'll have to wait. In the meantime....No sleep til Brooklyn!!!!

some more words

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 19:58:30 GMT

Almost a month since I updated this journal, that's a poor show. Must do better.
Current news. I've bought a plane ticket, booked a hotel, not a long excursion just a week away. I'm packing my bag but where I am going?
You'll need to read my update to find out......

Sunday into Monday

Mon, 14 Nov 2005 20:19:06 GMT

Nails painted, lip gloss applied, stockings fastened oops wrong diary.

Head down the A3 & I'm met with the glow of that bizarre tower beacon thing, it's definitely a remnant from the set of Flash Gordon that has cost the residents of Portsmouth something like £10 per head on their council tax, but then it must be worth it for the view. Think on.
As I descend the steps at 'Scandals' I'm thinking that all the clubs I go to, the ones that are below ground level are frequently the best.
A decent number of people are at Resurgence tonight ensuring it survives another couple of months, a GnT is purchased and savoured. Since I discovered Resurgence 3 years ago in my Goth revivalist mode the November date usually heralds the poignant 'Greg's winter solstice' and the ritual involves leaving the Northern Hemisphere and heading somewhere warm returning to this country around Easter.
I've not planned any trip this year, just reassured the family that I'll be with them to celebrate Christmas this year. So I do hope Winter isn't evil or else I'll be off.
Boogied the night away at Resurgence to a nice mix of old & new, fast & not so fast tunes. True to form Pete hits the right buttons with his tune selection.
A fitting end to an enjoyable weekend.

Saturday into Sunday

Sun, 13 Nov 2005 13:57:12 GMT

Saturday & no chance of a lie in. Into London & my vinyl fixation has to be satisfied, so that is what I do. Time flies and before I know it I'm late meeting Duncan at the South Bank. Find Duncan showing the skateboarders how it was done in his day....Blind date time and maybe a chance of the intriguingly named Gnommi or friend appearing but alas that doesn't happen.
A performance by DV8 is always an occasion to look forward to & tickets for the matinee were the only ones I could get this time. 'Just for Show' was clever and used a lot of humour to get it's point across, theatrical in places to illustrate the superficial nature of society. I enjoyed it. I never fail to be impressed by those who can stand on their head for long periods the closest I get to performance art is probably having a pen and paper in front of me and having to write (ie exam time), I am then motionless for a long long time, Yep that's my contribution to the world of art.
Then a firework display along the Thames - for me? How kind.
Culture by day, dancing by night.
We both go to 'Drop Zone' in Reading, I enjoyed my time there last month but it just wasn't the same this time. Main room of EBM started well but became too fast and tuneless, no melody = no reason to dance. The Synth room played a great mix of electronica & 80s last time but seemed to have lost any degree of focus tonight, tunes switched moods and genres with every track. I find that frustrating.
Home and into bed by 4.00am.
Portsmouth & Resurgence tonight, I'm sure Pete with his selection of tunes won't let me down!

Bargain of the week....

Mon, 07 Nov 2005 21:58:05 GMT

grab this now....

due to bizarre circumstances / vagaries of human nature I have a spare ticket for the matinee performance of DV 8's "Just for Show" performance this Saturday 12th November at the South Bank.

To see if anybody reads this diary I'll probably give the ticket away to anyone that fits the category "Groovy fucker" Post a reply or send an email.

Weekend gone

Mon, 07 Nov 2005 21:42:36 GMT

Saturday fireworks & bonfire, the guy had to be seen to be believed: a new romantic with hippy chic. He definately would have got away with his mission if he strolled into Parliament - this one had a psychedelic purple shirt that I wore to a Dr & the Medics gig over 15yrs ago and had been lurking in my wardrobe since now definately up with the spirit in the sky.
Sunday went to Black Celebration, an appropriate name for the downpour that followed me from the house to the venue. Arrived around 6.00pm, I thought Winter is the time for hibernation? Please tell that to Sheep on Drugs, have they woken from a 10 year slumber I am sure that's when I last saw them perform. Or is that me (probably me if I psychedelic purple shirts are trendy!!)?
Verdict on the evening - no atmosphere & underwhelming.
Rico was the saving grace but felt the band were out of place - give them the support slot for Sonic Youth and the kids will have a purpose in life.

Weekend round up - short & sweet!

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 20:45:03 GMT

Went to Oxford, had a look around, in the evening saw Lacuna Coil. They are a bit too 'metal' for my liking nevermind, my friend was happy.

Round up

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 19:48:46 GMT

Last week flew by, Bristol - good to look around, explore, met with Mhairi and swopped news. Brought some great sparkling Silver nail varnish, so cool I wore it all week. Probably not enhancing my career prospects but hey I can get away with it!
Rest of the week & weekend very relaxed. No clubbing just relaxing catching up on lots of records accumulated over the last couple of weeks.

Brighton

Sun, 16 Oct 2005 19:06:17 GMT

Saturday was spent with a day trip to the seaside, visiting Brighton is never dull, always plenty to see & do. To summarise the day, browsing round the interesting shops, walking along the beach, finding a nice vegetarian restaurant and a fitting end to proceedings: Bopping away at "Visual Purple", music more EBM than Goth, so should have worn my dancing shoes, it was nice to hear some excellent tunes!

Looking forward to the week ahead: A few days in Bristol with work for a course, for me that is incidental, more importantly it means the evenings are time to explore! I've made arrangements to hook up with Dr Mhairi, a scholarly woman I met last year in Ecuador. It will be good to meet up, wear my intellectual hat and discuss the world of anthropology!

The 5 day weekend finished yesterday!

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 20:05:36 GMT

Thought it about time I had more than 2 days to enjoy myself, rather than fitting everything into a weekend.
Had a great time starting Thursday, good to get 2005, the year of hedonism back on track.
Caught up with Andy Wetherall playing deep, deep house with thunderous bass. All the tunes were vinyl as well, extra kudos here and a DJ playing vinyl only makes such a change these days, also brings a nostalgic element out in me vive la vinyl! His set was mixed well, which is also refreshing (bit of a critic when it comes to that sphere = anorak thing). Great start & 4 days left.

Friday - slept well & rose at noon. Retail therapy time - off to Guildford, what's this all about Christmas decorations in the shops? U-turn time into the sanctuary of a record shop emerging some time later after spending a couple of hours rifling through the 50p section. Some real finds and I'm happy. Evening spent relaxing and composing a tune, well a melody & a looped sound effect.

Saturday - more sleep and meandering. Evening headed to Reading for the Drop Zone, Plug & play studio's really enjoyed myself. Main room played Covenant, Assemblage 23, Cult, Sisters, Acidy techno some great tunes for shaking the body to. Ahem Billy Idol Why? Time to explore the 80s room. Also Cult, Sisters & Covenant along with lots of great tunes Bowie, Cure, Banshees, not as many people in this room. but those that are smile alot. Also a rock room which I poked my head in, laughed ironically and ran back to the 80s room. Great venue & nice people enjoying themselves. Free water - good customer service! I hope to return next month.

Sunday - get to bed very late and then take a long walk. That's about it!

Monday - I'm up earlier than I went to bed the day before! Mad yes - the reason = work. A meeting in London. I haven't been in London by 8.30 ever. Heathrow doesn't count. Meeting finished at 3.30 Yippee
now time to explore. 1st stop The Astoria to buy a Black Celebration ticket. Marching onto Clerkenwell, to stop at 'Magma' a great arty shop for a browse and a purchase. Walked around Clerkenwell taking photos of some graffiti and looked at Turnmills & thought how different it looks in daylight.
Arrived at the Barbican for my cultural contribution to my weekend. Enjoyable display by Lucy Orta, recycling theme, creative use of materials and I think aluminium coated polymide could be the next big thing. Then up a couple of floors to the Araki exhibition. Much talked about and I think his pictures of the sky, flowers & fruit are more striking and appealing than the nudes. I love the colours and textures that the flowers & fruit display.
Now hungry: take a tube train and play follow my leader with Duncan as he takes me into central London, I keep up with him weaving around the side street as he guides us to a great vegetarian restaurant somewhere near Chinatown. Back to Waterloo via the Southbank centre and home.

A really good weekend. Brilliant fun!

Guilty

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 20:08:44 GMT

Who's eaten all that carrot cake???

Yum Yum!!!

Ice Cream

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 19:56:30 GMT

I scream, You scream, We all scream for Ice Cream!

Gluttony & Indulgence

Sun, 02 Oct 2005 19:10:15 GMT

Eaten a packet of Aero bubbles - a big packet at that. They are delicious: chocolate and minty. Chocolate is good for you. Right?

That's the way it goes....

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 22:19:56 GMT

Happy.....Sunday was interesting took a friends dog for a long walk - taught it a few tricks and it copied me doing a variation of a somersault.

Sad.....Downloaded lots of pictures taken over the last month, believed I had saved them on the computer, deleted the images from the memory card & the pictures vanished. That's a bit upsetting, some nice pictures from Infest, buildings around Bradford, trees and the dog all vanished into where?

Happy again....Yippee I'm the highest bidder on ebay for a tune I've been after for 3 years. Baruka - Play it Loud - classic Dutch swirling techno from Orlando, searched everywhere for it after losing the original a few years ago and there it was waiting for a bidder on Ebay.. Bargain price as well.

Even Happier....1st Live Journal friend has 'added' me as a friend.

Hello to all!!!

Sun, 25 Sep 2005 23:05:34 GMT

The clock has struck midnight, oh no pumpkin time! In the last month I've met a few people who've banged on about their journals so I've decided to take them up on their challenge, don't know how to do groovy things and effects like some manage and really don't know how i'll manage to find the time to update details of what I'm doing but but nothing ventured....