A Thought.

There’s an almost perfect corrolation between your age and where you choose to sit on a bus. If you carry a student bus pass then you get the back seat. By the time you collect your OAP pass you’ve gradually worked your way  to those easy access seats right by the luggage rack and the door. I sit somewhere in the middle, obviously.

I Like Snow

It bugs me when people complain about the snow.

People complain when it’s raining, that you’ll get cancer when the sun shines and public transport will grind to a halt when snow falls on the roads.

Snow is fun. Like leaves in autumn.

Just take the day off work and have a snowball fight. That’s much more productive than sitting in an office stapling paper.

Happy New Year

I haven’t written an entry for a little while so apologies. The past few months have been a little static so there was very little to write about.

But, when in bad times, take it back to 2004

I hope you’re all well into 2009. January has been a good month for some detoxing of the soul. Devon is a much calmer place than Manchester and i always feel more creative out in the country side. Maybe, perhaps, because it takes an hour on bus then an hour on train to reach relative civilisation.

I have an audition in London next week which will be a change. Permanently soon too if i find a place to live there.

Here’s a video clip to end on. Till the next time…

Hexachordal 

A blog about things above you.

I just saw the most amazing sky on the train home. It was like someone had stretched a rainbow right across it and thrown up a couple of small clouds for good measure.

And then i was even more amazed because a glass pyramid came into the foreground and i realised this was all happening over Stockport.

This is an oxymoron.

Talking of provincial northern towns, there is the most amazing sci-fi radio show on BBC7. It’s called The Spaceship and follows the adventures of The Really Invincible.3.2.8, Macclesfield Division.  It’s a mix between Red Dwarf and Star Trek and the second series is currently on iPlayer. I definitely recommend you check it out! With lines like “By now, the dust storm had totally engulfed Runcorn” and  doors that say “Thank you for entering me” when you walk through them, you know you’re onto a winner. It also has Hugo from the Vicar of Dibley in it. Seriously, even if you don’t normally listen to radio drama, this is a great place to start. Travel 70, 000 light years in space HERE

If this isn’t on BBC 3 in the next two years there are things very wrong with the world.

Why Wii?

I’m certain the only reason Nintendo invented the Wii was to make people look like utter fools.

This never really occurred to me before because I’d generally fallen for the concept that if i bought one, my home would become an open plan house entirely furnished kindly by The White Company and my family and friends would be a sunny and amiable bunch. Not that they aren’t already.

But then i saw the latest add for Rock Band or some such variation upon that particular franchise. Essentially, I’ve never seen such self satisfied people reveling in their ability to wave a white stick, or the delightfully named “Nunchuck”, aimlessly in the air and truly feel like accomplished grade eight musicians, with distinctions, obviously.

And the original version of Wham’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” was, well, better.

Never thought I’d say that.

And i don’t want to be like the Redknapp family. Thanks all the same.

Ten hours, fourteen cups of tea and a stack of pancakes later…

So I’ve been trying to write something in this little grey box all frigging day. Seriously ALL FRIGGING DAY. And then it hit me. The problem. The problem is this:

I have no life.

How can i write anything in a blog when nothing happens to me to stimulate the old creative juices?

But it goes deeper, oh yes.

If i were to actually have a life, then i wouldn’t have the time to write this stuff.

It’s a circle dilemma!!! What is a boy to do?

After passing my driving test in the same week we burnt effigies of revolutionaries while munching on parkin and staying up till four in the morning and thinking something profound about the way the dawn of the new day brought with it the dawn of a new era of American politics all preceded by nights out in Manchester to celebrate something about dead people and pumpkins, I’m feeling a little empty of creativity.

I spent the past week writing a short story but I’m not too sure i want to post it here anymore. I’m feeling artistic insecurity. It’s could just be crap, although deep down I’m actually pretty proud of it.

Here’s to Sunday!

Vrooooooom

I passed my driving test!!!

I can drive!!!

The examiner was tall, wore a long beige anorak and spoke with the nasal voice that only train enthusiasts and driving examiners can. He even had the round spectacles. He was quite friendly actually. He freaking passed me!!!

Smiles all around!

Kaffinated in the Kitchen

I’m on a wave of creativity in the kitchen lately. I’ve mastered the art of the stroganoff and I’m moving onto american style pancakes with mangoes and yogurt tonight. Food is good.

But this reminded me of a drink i devised back in the distant days of secondary school and Food Technology. In the early noughties, energy drinks were still in their infancy. If you wanted to stay awake all night with an irregular and three figure pulse rate, you couldn’t just pop to your local Tesco Metro. You had to use your imaginations and a little elbow grease. And so it was that i came to invent the alliteratively titled Kaffine Kick. It’s not a complicated recipe. Into one whiskey tumbler you threw a handful of ice cubes, two table spoons of instant coffee and load of coke. As in cola. To finish you’d squeeze in some lime juice to hide the bitterness and you were away. It was rather nice. Try it. It got me a B at G.C.S.E so that’s a personal reccomendation from the examination board!

I’ve also written a little short story-cum-rhyme which I’ll post later on.

Driving test on Thursday. Oh dear.

We’re on the fast track to the front page baby!

“Ohhhhh, it’s like i were there!”

Confused? Dont be: Clickity Clack

I must draw your attention to the quite fantastically Harry Potter-esque name that this guy has. Tom Wrigglesworth. Say it over and over again. Doesn’t it feel so satisfying? Wrigglesworth. Wrig-gles-worth. Mmmm.

In court, testimonials from memory are treated with a great deal of caution, given the ability of your mind to shake the hard facts up a bit and re draw them with a bit more pazzaz. Well, this guy wasn’t blond. Take a look for yourself.

Cheers to Jon for drawing my attention to my involvement in this major news story.

Bring me sunshine…

I miss the summer. You see, I’m not normally a summer lover. For me it means spending four  months continuously on the verge of a sneeze. But i miss playing Vampire Weekend in the garden in Devon. I miss Chesterfield and not seeing the darkness for days on end and i miss Edinburgh for the five days of seeing shows, meeting friends, finding the best burger joint in Scotland and drinking until the sun comes up. Me and my warm hoodies are usually the best of mates but this winter I’m yearning for baggy shorts and not much else.

On a totally unrelated but far more important note, JAMIE’S MINISTRY OF FOOD  is possibly the best concept ever. What is it about people who can’t cook? Why are we so dependant upon ready made cardboard from the supermarket? We should all stop being lazy and learn how to make the most of our kitchens. There is truly nothing more satisfying in life than being able to create and share a decent meal with those around you. Apart from sex maybe. But cooking is simpler.