Thursday, December 03, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Friday, August 07, 2009
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Nana's 80th
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Igor
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
My most recent two glastonburys.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The view on my way to work
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sunday, April 05, 2009
That's Lionel Ritchie in the distance...
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Idle
I am. But I'm not too idle to take the time to admit I'm being idle. In brief, the last couple of weeks have involved:
A jazz band on Friday night. Pianist and drummer were excellent. Bassist may or may not have been under the influence of something that impaired his sensitivity to the other musicians. He played all the right notes, but still stank.
The gaining of momentum in continuing wedding plans. Dates will be confirmed in the next month, with any luck.
Continued and unavoidable coverage of Jade Goody's slow and painful death. I feel for her and her family, but I also feel slightly annoyed that I've been put in a position where I have to. I don't know her and I don't like her. I have plenty of people to care about who I do know and like, at least one of whom passed away not long ago, from something slower and more painful. But good that more people are getting checked out. And her kids and husband are set for life, which I don't begrudge them.
My music things are working well. And they say the weakest link in a studio defines the quality of its output. At the moment, the weakest link is the performer. The performer continues to practice.
And today, I bought a pair of wellies, so I'm all set for Glasto, and this weekend's camping trip.
Incidentally, the 6 nations closing match contained as many O'Somethings on one starting 15 as it did Joneses on the other. 5 each.
Stay tuned for more pointless inane prattle.
A jazz band on Friday night. Pianist and drummer were excellent. Bassist may or may not have been under the influence of something that impaired his sensitivity to the other musicians. He played all the right notes, but still stank.
The gaining of momentum in continuing wedding plans. Dates will be confirmed in the next month, with any luck.
Continued and unavoidable coverage of Jade Goody's slow and painful death. I feel for her and her family, but I also feel slightly annoyed that I've been put in a position where I have to. I don't know her and I don't like her. I have plenty of people to care about who I do know and like, at least one of whom passed away not long ago, from something slower and more painful. But good that more people are getting checked out. And her kids and husband are set for life, which I don't begrudge them.
My music things are working well. And they say the weakest link in a studio defines the quality of its output. At the moment, the weakest link is the performer. The performer continues to practice.
And today, I bought a pair of wellies, so I'm all set for Glasto, and this weekend's camping trip.
Incidentally, the 6 nations closing match contained as many O'Somethings on one starting 15 as it did Joneses on the other. 5 each.
Stay tuned for more pointless inane prattle.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
This is clint
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
I should elaborate - Elissa's surprise weekend in Germany
My fabulous fiancee took me away to Germany this weekend. She didn't tell me where in Germany until we made it to the departure lounge, and she didn't tell me why until we were on the plane. So at about 7.15pm on Friday evening, just above Luton, I opened a card telling me I was on my way to see Bobby McFerrin in Dortmund. I didn't even know Dortmund was in Germany, if I'd been asked I'd have guessed Holland actually. But I was quite excited at the prospect of seeing someone like Bobby McFerrin. I've been fascinated by one of his tunes since I was about 18 (not that one, though it's pretty good - "Thinkin' About Your Body", which was on a jazz compilation that got played at school quite a lot). And visiting Germany for the first time (well, second time, I went to Berlin when I was 3) was quite exciting too.
The hotel was lovely. The breakfast on Saturday morning was lovely too - Elissa had arranged breakfast in the hotel, and it consisted of as much bacon, sausage, toast, scrambled egg, cereal, jam, ham, salami, cheese, pastries and fruit as possible. No, as much as you wanted. Though the first morning we ate as much as possible.
We wandered into town and looked around the market. We were amazed at how busy the streets were, throughout the centre of town. The market had all sorts of lovely looking food - olives, fish, cheeses, nuts, dried fruit. It made us wish we hadn't eaten quite so much at breakfast actually. We ended up picking up about 30E worth of food and drink from a nearby Waitrose-esque supermarket, and we took that back to the hotel room for late lunch. Naps ensued and 8pm was approaching all too fast, so we grabbed something to eat and went to the Konzerthaus, where we ordered a beer and sat watching the crowd. We got the impression concerts like this didn't happen in Dortmund all that often, as everyone was quite dressed up.
When the concert started, Bobby McFerrin came out in jeans and a t-shirt, and sat down, and just began singing. It's very difficult to describe this, if you haven't heard it for yourself. He has a huge range, including his falsetto, and switches from low to high effortlessly. He strikes his chest gently, to define the start of a note and create a percussion track for many of his songs. His own song "Drive" and his version of The Beatles' "Blackbird" sound like full band songs, and it's just one man with a microphone. Each note seems to hang in the space and fill the room (though a healthy dose of reverb probably helps with that). As I suspected I would, I've failed to convey the sound at all. Go and get some, and listen to it.
After 15 minutes of unaccompanied improvisation, he started alternating solo numbers with audience participation. He asked the audience to hum a single note and riffed over the top of it. He divided the audience up and gave them something to sing. He jumped on the spot on stage and sang a note, then jumped again. The audience sang the note. He jumped to the left and sang a higher note. The audience sang that note. And then he introduced another higher note. From then on, in that song, he played the stage like a keyboard, with the audience providing backing to another great improvisation. He had the audience sing "Ave Maria" while he provided the accompaniment, which, while a little bit too echoey in such a big room, was very effective.
Then he brought out a choir, and they did something they'd been rehearsing, which was impressive. But then for the next 20 minutes, he used the choir as a loop pedal, 'recording' tunes with the sopranos, altos, tenors and basses in turn, switching them on and off with a gesture, and singing all the while. For one song he invited someone up on stage to perform an interpretive dance to what he sang, with part-convincing, part-hilarious results.
Shortly after that he held up a spare microphone and said "I have a microphone and a chair - who wants to come and sing with me?". "Me!" I thought, but didn't quite have the bottle, to start with. A couple of people got up, one who made lots of very low noises, which he interspersed with shrieks and higher notes, and percussion. One who just picked some notes at random, and he played off that. Then he said "Well, it's been pretty good, but I was really expecting someone to just come up and sing the blues or something". I didn't need asking twice, and this time I managed to persuade my legs to go along with it.
As I walked on the stage I said "I had to have a go or I'd have regretted it the rest of my life". The first ten rows went "Aah....". I turned to Bobby and said "Was that too much?". He said "No." I said "Hi. I'm Matt". He said "Hi, I'm Bobby". Then he said something about getting on with it and singing a blues, and started singing a bassline. For once, I was lost for words to sing, so I sang the bassline with him, and let him take the top end. I could hear the tremor in my voice - I was terrified! My mouth was drying out. I didn't really cach the words he sang, but then he dropped back into the bassline and it was my turn. I said "I can't think of any words". "It doesn't matter what words you sing, Matt. Just make up some words, Matt", he sang back. "My name is Matt, I came to a concert, I sat in the crowd, and now I'm on the stage" he continued. "I've still got nothing" I said. "Come on, just tell us what you did today....". Right, I thought, I'd better come up with something. I sang:
Today I came to Dortmund - For the very first time.
I haven't been to Germany since I was three - and I'm having a real good time (note how I deftly rhymed "time" with "time" - it got a cheer though, if you're ever singing overseas, just say you like the country, everyone will cheer).
Then after the concert.... Don't know what I'm gonna do!
And by the end, I wasn't nearly as nervous (though still shaking slightly), and I think I was probably nearly shouting. The audience was clapping along, and as Bobby brought the bassline to a close, I threw in a harmony (albeit a weak, slightly out of tune one). We stood up, 1,200 Germans applauded, we hugged, I said "Thank you, that was a real honour", and I wandered back to my seat, in slight disbelief of what had just happened, and thinking "If only I'd prepared something".
Anyway. The rest of the concert I just sat there grinning to myself. A lady who had come from the back of the concert hall was making her way back to her seat (she'd been waiting for me to finish) and the audience went "Aaaah... " again, so Bobby invited her to join him on stage too, and she was much more composed than I, and very talented. And a few more numbers and a standing ovation and the show was over. The audience clapped for an encore, but instead, Bobby came out for a Q&A session. After a number of pretty useless questions, Elissa put her hand up and asked what his earliest musical memory was, and he told us about a song he used to sing with his sister, when he was three and she was 18 months old. And then we made our way back to the hotel.
The next day we spent relaxing in the hotel room until about 3pm, as they have a 5pm checkout on Sunday (Yes!). We had a coffee and a hot chocolate in a local jazz bar, wandered round town a bit and picked up a nice poster Elissa had seen the previous night. And found out why town was so busy on Saturday - everywhere shuts on Sunday. About 5pm we made our way back to the airport, had a quick bockwurst and jumped on our plane, leaving a city I suspect I shall have fond memories of for a long, long time.
The hotel was lovely. The breakfast on Saturday morning was lovely too - Elissa had arranged breakfast in the hotel, and it consisted of as much bacon, sausage, toast, scrambled egg, cereal, jam, ham, salami, cheese, pastries and fruit as possible. No, as much as you wanted. Though the first morning we ate as much as possible.
We wandered into town and looked around the market. We were amazed at how busy the streets were, throughout the centre of town. The market had all sorts of lovely looking food - olives, fish, cheeses, nuts, dried fruit. It made us wish we hadn't eaten quite so much at breakfast actually. We ended up picking up about 30E worth of food and drink from a nearby Waitrose-esque supermarket, and we took that back to the hotel room for late lunch. Naps ensued and 8pm was approaching all too fast, so we grabbed something to eat and went to the Konzerthaus, where we ordered a beer and sat watching the crowd. We got the impression concerts like this didn't happen in Dortmund all that often, as everyone was quite dressed up.
When the concert started, Bobby McFerrin came out in jeans and a t-shirt, and sat down, and just began singing. It's very difficult to describe this, if you haven't heard it for yourself. He has a huge range, including his falsetto, and switches from low to high effortlessly. He strikes his chest gently, to define the start of a note and create a percussion track for many of his songs. His own song "Drive" and his version of The Beatles' "Blackbird" sound like full band songs, and it's just one man with a microphone. Each note seems to hang in the space and fill the room (though a healthy dose of reverb probably helps with that). As I suspected I would, I've failed to convey the sound at all. Go and get some, and listen to it.
After 15 minutes of unaccompanied improvisation, he started alternating solo numbers with audience participation. He asked the audience to hum a single note and riffed over the top of it. He divided the audience up and gave them something to sing. He jumped on the spot on stage and sang a note, then jumped again. The audience sang the note. He jumped to the left and sang a higher note. The audience sang that note. And then he introduced another higher note. From then on, in that song, he played the stage like a keyboard, with the audience providing backing to another great improvisation. He had the audience sing "Ave Maria" while he provided the accompaniment, which, while a little bit too echoey in such a big room, was very effective.
Then he brought out a choir, and they did something they'd been rehearsing, which was impressive. But then for the next 20 minutes, he used the choir as a loop pedal, 'recording' tunes with the sopranos, altos, tenors and basses in turn, switching them on and off with a gesture, and singing all the while. For one song he invited someone up on stage to perform an interpretive dance to what he sang, with part-convincing, part-hilarious results.
Shortly after that he held up a spare microphone and said "I have a microphone and a chair - who wants to come and sing with me?". "Me!" I thought, but didn't quite have the bottle, to start with. A couple of people got up, one who made lots of very low noises, which he interspersed with shrieks and higher notes, and percussion. One who just picked some notes at random, and he played off that. Then he said "Well, it's been pretty good, but I was really expecting someone to just come up and sing the blues or something". I didn't need asking twice, and this time I managed to persuade my legs to go along with it.
As I walked on the stage I said "I had to have a go or I'd have regretted it the rest of my life". The first ten rows went "Aah....". I turned to Bobby and said "Was that too much?". He said "No." I said "Hi. I'm Matt". He said "Hi, I'm Bobby". Then he said something about getting on with it and singing a blues, and started singing a bassline. For once, I was lost for words to sing, so I sang the bassline with him, and let him take the top end. I could hear the tremor in my voice - I was terrified! My mouth was drying out. I didn't really cach the words he sang, but then he dropped back into the bassline and it was my turn. I said "I can't think of any words". "It doesn't matter what words you sing, Matt. Just make up some words, Matt", he sang back. "My name is Matt, I came to a concert, I sat in the crowd, and now I'm on the stage" he continued. "I've still got nothing" I said. "Come on, just tell us what you did today....". Right, I thought, I'd better come up with something. I sang:
Today I came to Dortmund - For the very first time.
I haven't been to Germany since I was three - and I'm having a real good time (note how I deftly rhymed "time" with "time" - it got a cheer though, if you're ever singing overseas, just say you like the country, everyone will cheer).
Then after the concert.... Don't know what I'm gonna do!
And by the end, I wasn't nearly as nervous (though still shaking slightly), and I think I was probably nearly shouting. The audience was clapping along, and as Bobby brought the bassline to a close, I threw in a harmony (albeit a weak, slightly out of tune one). We stood up, 1,200 Germans applauded, we hugged, I said "Thank you, that was a real honour", and I wandered back to my seat, in slight disbelief of what had just happened, and thinking "If only I'd prepared something".
Anyway. The rest of the concert I just sat there grinning to myself. A lady who had come from the back of the concert hall was making her way back to her seat (she'd been waiting for me to finish) and the audience went "Aaaah... " again, so Bobby invited her to join him on stage too, and she was much more composed than I, and very talented. And a few more numbers and a standing ovation and the show was over. The audience clapped for an encore, but instead, Bobby came out for a Q&A session. After a number of pretty useless questions, Elissa put her hand up and asked what his earliest musical memory was, and he told us about a song he used to sing with his sister, when he was three and she was 18 months old. And then we made our way back to the hotel.
The next day we spent relaxing in the hotel room until about 3pm, as they have a 5pm checkout on Sunday (Yes!). We had a coffee and a hot chocolate in a local jazz bar, wandered round town a bit and picked up a nice poster Elissa had seen the previous night. And found out why town was so busy on Saturday - everywhere shuts on Sunday. About 5pm we made our way back to the airport, had a quick bockwurst and jumped on our plane, leaving a city I suspect I shall have fond memories of for a long, long time.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Snow in Mervan Road
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
I'm 29!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
My laptop is...
... a word processor, a music studio, a games console, a graphic design thingy, a website suite, and now, it's a DVD player (with, potentially, access to the internet, and its wealth of downloadable video). I have made it talk to my television.
Over Christmas, I bought a Scart - Composite/S-Video adaptor and an S-Video cable. I plugged the cable into the laptop and the adaptor, set the adaptor to the correct direction, and plugged it into my parents' giant television. I got a crisp, clear, black and white picture. Whatever I did, I couldn't get colour.
So I mucked about a bit and had no luck. And then yesterday I found the answer. I stuck two bits of tinfoil in the S-Video socket in the adaptor (connecting the top two holes together, and the bottom two holes together) and stuck the cable in there as well, and plugged that into the back of my (ageing, somewhat smaller) TV. It gave me, after some hue, saturation and brightness adjustments, a beautiful, clear, crisp colour picture. I am very happy. I now have a large second monitor.
I am now watching Freecycle for a bigger TV.
Over Christmas, I bought a Scart - Composite/S-Video adaptor and an S-Video cable. I plugged the cable into the laptop and the adaptor, set the adaptor to the correct direction, and plugged it into my parents' giant television. I got a crisp, clear, black and white picture. Whatever I did, I couldn't get colour.
So I mucked about a bit and had no luck. And then yesterday I found the answer. I stuck two bits of tinfoil in the S-Video socket in the adaptor (connecting the top two holes together, and the bottom two holes together) and stuck the cable in there as well, and plugged that into the back of my (ageing, somewhat smaller) TV. It gave me, after some hue, saturation and brightness adjustments, a beautiful, clear, crisp colour picture. I am very happy. I now have a large second monitor.
I am now watching Freecycle for a bigger TV.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Giant snowman on Carnaby St.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
I am so rubbish!
So I got engaged, Christmas happened, New Year happened, and lots of other little things. But I break the silence now to talk about Tesco and Sainsburys.
The Basics Pollack at Sainsburys costs about £1.50 for a bit that feeds 3, and it's Marine Stewardship Council certified. That's this thing that endorses about 10 fisheries around the world (last time I looked, could be more) to ensure they're being fished sustainably. And it seemed to be fresh, and of good quality (can't be factory farmed if it's MSC, I am pretty sure, so it's proper wild seafish). The cod was about three times that price, and had no logos to proclaim it to be Guardian-friendly.
The value Tortilla chips at Tesco contain Maize, Veg.Oil and salt. They're 17p for 100g. Pringles have all sorts of crap on them and they're about £1.50 for 170g. Kettle chips are back to basics, just potato, salt and oil. They're about £1.80 for 200g.
Having just announced a birthday party at a pub that charges 99p a pint for a really nice beer (and more for rubbish beer), I am personally very pleased that the cheap options seem to be better than the expensive ones in Modern Britain. I am now looking for a Tesco Value House.
The Basics Pollack at Sainsburys costs about £1.50 for a bit that feeds 3, and it's Marine Stewardship Council certified. That's this thing that endorses about 10 fisheries around the world (last time I looked, could be more) to ensure they're being fished sustainably. And it seemed to be fresh, and of good quality (can't be factory farmed if it's MSC, I am pretty sure, so it's proper wild seafish). The cod was about three times that price, and had no logos to proclaim it to be Guardian-friendly.
The value Tortilla chips at Tesco contain Maize, Veg.Oil and salt. They're 17p for 100g. Pringles have all sorts of crap on them and they're about £1.50 for 170g. Kettle chips are back to basics, just potato, salt and oil. They're about £1.80 for 200g.
Having just announced a birthday party at a pub that charges 99p a pint for a really nice beer (and more for rubbish beer), I am personally very pleased that the cheap options seem to be better than the expensive ones in Modern Britain. I am now looking for a Tesco Value House.
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