I'm back! Went to see/hear the Boosh DJing at the Social the other night and it was packed full of Boosh fans which is obviously great but at the same time very strange. It's been a million years since we've seen the Boosh perform live so when it actually happens again it'll freak us out. It was nice to see all their friends and lots of the cast of the show there, just a shame it was on the same night as the recording of the Ealing Live pilot or even more people, like Simon, could have come.
As it was we spent most of the time chatting to Dan (otherwise known as Johnny Two Hats which didn't register with me until a while into the night) but I don't think anyone recognised him. Got a few photos on Kathryn's disposable camera including one of Dee and Sue in front of Noel and Julian... must be strange for the four of them to have swapped sides of the DJ decks. Bumped into a very old friend, Charlie, who I have possibly only really met less than 10 times in my life, but it was lovely to see him and he has just this minute taken us up on our offer of a sofa bed for a few nights duing the festival for the first weekend. And as he has kindly pointed out, that's next weekend!! Shit!!!
Waen and Katy came along but left soon after cos it was packed so me and Kathryn left early too (after Noel played "Cars" and got a round of applause for doing so) and went to meet them. Ended up staying out til about 2am and then I got the night bus home - see below entry.
My parents have been away and I have done OK at keeping the house tidy, mostly cos I've been out every night except last Sunday and last night. They are going to shout at me for ruining the new expensive halogen hob on their new and expensive cooker but I have already warned them... they're back the day before I leave for Edinburgh anyway so I can put up with 24 hours of shouting.
Just about to wander off to meet some friends for "leaving" drinks in Soho when I really should be going home to sort my life out and plan a few shows to see in the first weekend and first week. I am totally disorganised. Going out tomorrow night too so everything has to be done on Saturday. I got a call from some spanner in Boots saying my rip off cash in glasses are ready. I think they are Calvin Kleins which isn't me being a fashion victim, they were literally the only pair in the shop that looked ok, but I am evern beginning to doubt that now. We'll see.
Going out tomorrow night and getting a cab home with my mac - that should prove interesting. Being presumably quite tipsy trying to carry a heavy computer down 3 flights of stairs and into a cab without dropping it.
Shit. 2 full days til the off. Comedy Lounge is shaping up nicely though, you'll be pleased to hear.
This festival is going to be the best yet.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Would someone care to explain to me just how it's 29 July already? I have one more day at work to tie up loose ends, talk about the festival, plan what to see and work out how to get my mac to my house without breaking it or having to carry it. Obviously I am aching to get there and its going to be four weeks of intense fun but I could do with another week to get ready for it.
I've been fairly busy since I last posted. I was nearly attacked on the night bus the other morning, which was nice. I had my headphones on and was sitting at the top at the front on the left and some bloke sat on the seats behind me but to the right so he could see past me and through the front window. I could see him blathering on and trying to catch my eye in the reflection of the bus window but I think they were foreign so I didn't turn my walkman down to see what they were saying, I simply continued listening to Metal Boy and then went downstairs a few stops before mine just in case. I sat downstairs and as we came to my stop another bloke came downstairs and was about to get off when he started saying something to me, so I begrudgingly took off my headphones. He started going on about how he was supposed to get off at Crystal Palace but he stayed on the bus just for me and where am I getting off the bus. As you can imagine I'd had enough of being leered at by this point so I tutted at him and said "not here", hoping he was going to get off and leave me alone. But then he gestured upstairs, said it again and said "be careful". At which point I panicked and realised that he meant that he'd stayed on the bus and missed his stop to keep an eye on me. I felt a bit bad but he'd already got off and thankfully the other idiots got off the bus after him, glaring at me as they did.
So that was nice. Its taken me about 3 hours to manage to write that post. I am incredibly busy.
More excitement to follow.
I've been fairly busy since I last posted. I was nearly attacked on the night bus the other morning, which was nice. I had my headphones on and was sitting at the top at the front on the left and some bloke sat on the seats behind me but to the right so he could see past me and through the front window. I could see him blathering on and trying to catch my eye in the reflection of the bus window but I think they were foreign so I didn't turn my walkman down to see what they were saying, I simply continued listening to Metal Boy and then went downstairs a few stops before mine just in case. I sat downstairs and as we came to my stop another bloke came downstairs and was about to get off when he started saying something to me, so I begrudgingly took off my headphones. He started going on about how he was supposed to get off at Crystal Palace but he stayed on the bus just for me and where am I getting off the bus. As you can imagine I'd had enough of being leered at by this point so I tutted at him and said "not here", hoping he was going to get off and leave me alone. But then he gestured upstairs, said it again and said "be careful". At which point I panicked and realised that he meant that he'd stayed on the bus and missed his stop to keep an eye on me. I felt a bit bad but he'd already got off and thankfully the other idiots got off the bus after him, glaring at me as they did.
So that was nice. Its taken me about 3 hours to manage to write that post. I am incredibly busy.
More excitement to follow.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
I am happy today. I am setting off for the north in exactly 11 days and en route to Edinburgh I will be saying a quick hello to Little Dan in Nottingham and staying at my Uncle’s in Newcastle for about 36 hours. Then onwards to my final destination which is just going to be one fun month. The best yet I think. Comedy Lounge is well on its way to becoming greater than ever with our relaunch Festival issue and I am going to be doing stuff for work too.
I had a minor panic about something the other night which made me a bit weepy but I’ve just about got a handle on it and unless I have a spare £1200 knocking about there’s no point worrying about something out of my control. (That bit’s for me, I’ll know what it means when I read back over it). I am also starting to panic about the festival being quite so soon. Thankfully my parents are going on holiday from Saturday until the day before I leave so I can have a week free of nagging and lectures and I can do all my washing and stuff without being treated like a child. If only they’d go on some kind of year long holiday.
I am having a minor panic over money too. I had my eyes tested and ordered new glasses last weekend and they are costing me £270. Not happy. Spent the rest of the weekend feeling faint and lying down. I tried on literally every pair of glasses in the shop and that price is WITH 50% off the frames, which were £130 on their own. I hope they look OK when they finally come through – I’ll be wearing them about Edinburgh so please do come over and tell me they look nice, especially if they don’t. Add on top of that the fact that I took my car in to be MOTd and serviced and that has totally wiped me out. The only good thing is that I get paid on the 1st and will have cold hard cash in my account… don’t have any room left on my 0% credit cards…
Last week I went to the Comedy Tank at the Hen and Chickens. It was Sharon Hoga, Miranda Hard, Jennie Cox, The Consultants and Tim Key and another ex-footlight whose name I am rubbishly not able to remember. Candon was compering and the lovely Alex Zane turned up only to once again deny me the £50 he so clearly still owes me from the ministry of comedy… which reminds me, I must remember to get money from someone for those gigs… Had a nice chat to the two blond consultants and again managed to come across as some kind of mentalist Jeremy Lion fan. This is not good. I am losing all street cred. Must remember I am a hard-nosed journo and should not be caught wearing Jeremy Lion badges in front of the public. Or Justin.
I say this again cos I want to make sure you all remember…. I think LUKE & STELLA is going to be one of the very best shows at the festival this year. It is totally totally brilliant. Just see if I’m not right. That and Jeremy Lion. And Gary Le Strange. And the Trap. And Lee Mack. And Alex Horne.
I am going out drinking with some of my lovely friends tonight – should be ace. One of them is the bionic lord of pop. And another is the winner of the CL Best New Friend category last year. And the other two are gorgeous and funny. I’ll probably just sit quietly, listen and giggle to myself… It is very hot and sweaty in our hot little unventilated office today.
Helena lands safely in the UK tomorrow - HOORAY!!!
I had a minor panic about something the other night which made me a bit weepy but I’ve just about got a handle on it and unless I have a spare £1200 knocking about there’s no point worrying about something out of my control. (That bit’s for me, I’ll know what it means when I read back over it). I am also starting to panic about the festival being quite so soon. Thankfully my parents are going on holiday from Saturday until the day before I leave so I can have a week free of nagging and lectures and I can do all my washing and stuff without being treated like a child. If only they’d go on some kind of year long holiday.
I am having a minor panic over money too. I had my eyes tested and ordered new glasses last weekend and they are costing me £270. Not happy. Spent the rest of the weekend feeling faint and lying down. I tried on literally every pair of glasses in the shop and that price is WITH 50% off the frames, which were £130 on their own. I hope they look OK when they finally come through – I’ll be wearing them about Edinburgh so please do come over and tell me they look nice, especially if they don’t. Add on top of that the fact that I took my car in to be MOTd and serviced and that has totally wiped me out. The only good thing is that I get paid on the 1st and will have cold hard cash in my account… don’t have any room left on my 0% credit cards…
Last week I went to the Comedy Tank at the Hen and Chickens. It was Sharon Hoga, Miranda Hard, Jennie Cox, The Consultants and Tim Key and another ex-footlight whose name I am rubbishly not able to remember. Candon was compering and the lovely Alex Zane turned up only to once again deny me the £50 he so clearly still owes me from the ministry of comedy… which reminds me, I must remember to get money from someone for those gigs… Had a nice chat to the two blond consultants and again managed to come across as some kind of mentalist Jeremy Lion fan. This is not good. I am losing all street cred. Must remember I am a hard-nosed journo and should not be caught wearing Jeremy Lion badges in front of the public. Or Justin.
I say this again cos I want to make sure you all remember…. I think LUKE & STELLA is going to be one of the very best shows at the festival this year. It is totally totally brilliant. Just see if I’m not right. That and Jeremy Lion. And Gary Le Strange. And the Trap. And Lee Mack. And Alex Horne.
I am going out drinking with some of my lovely friends tonight – should be ace. One of them is the bionic lord of pop. And another is the winner of the CL Best New Friend category last year. And the other two are gorgeous and funny. I’ll probably just sit quietly, listen and giggle to myself… It is very hot and sweaty in our hot little unventilated office today.
Helena lands safely in the UK tomorrow - HOORAY!!!
Monday, July 12, 2004
This is from last week's Popbitch which I have only just got around to reading...
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Nottingham's legendary street busker, Xylophone Man,
Frank Robinson, died this week aged 73.
----------------------------------------------------
This is very sad news. I went to university in Nottingham and we used to see this old man playing his xylophone (badly) on the streets all year. At Xmas he used to do some kind of medley of hymns but I suspect that's because he only knew a few bars of each. And it wasn't even a proper xylophone, it was one of the small ones with different coloured bits of metal that you'd get from a toyshop. Gutted. He was a real character. Along with mentalist god-bothering woman who used to roam the very same street in Nottingham randomly shouting quotes from the bible at people and advising us that we would all burn in hell if we didn't listen. Those were the days.
So, yesterday I woke up at 9am and made my way over to Blackheath to take part in the Cancer Research run for life. Met up with Suzanne and Nalini and then the 7000 of us all took part in a mass aerobics warm-up which must have looked quite funny. Then at 11.22am after lining up at for ages we passed through the start and were on our way. S & N have run two marathons each so I only jogged with them for the first few minutes before the first stitch of many began to kick in. It was unlike anything I've ever done. There were so many girls/women taking part that at no point was I running/walking on my own. And a lot of people had pink notes pinned to their backs with names and photos of the people that they were running in rememberance/celebration of. It was really sad but also quite uplifting at the same time.
It took me 14 mins to do the first 2k which got me thinking that although I'd generously allowed myself 2 hours to finish, I might actually get through in under an hour depending on how tired I got. I passed the 4k mark at 30 mins and as I saw the finish in the distance, set myself the challenge of finishing in under 40 mins. As I neared the end there were more and more people standing at the sides cheering and although I had one almighty stitch due to my severe lack of training, I didn't want to look like a nonce and so ran the last 400m. As I got within 50m from the line I heard S & N cheering me on at the side so I stuck my tongue out at them and sprinted to the end. It was such a relief to finish - along with the thrill of being congratulated by the lovely Llewelyn-Bowen - that I thought I was going to be sick. I managed to restrain myself and picked up my medal and goodies and then went and found the others.
They were very impressed, as was I, at my time. It had taken them 25 mins to finish so an extra 10 mins by me is pretty good going I think. Given that I literally haven't done any exercise in about 5 years. All this excitement and it wasn't even 1pm.
It wiped me out for the rest of the day. I got home, stumbled onto my bed, ate something, put the telly on and then dozed for a few hours. Forced myself up at about 6.30pm and did absolutely nothing for the rest of the evening. Typically I couldn't get to sleep last night - overtired.
----------------------------------------------------
Nottingham's legendary street busker, Xylophone Man,
Frank Robinson, died this week aged 73.
----------------------------------------------------
This is very sad news. I went to university in Nottingham and we used to see this old man playing his xylophone (badly) on the streets all year. At Xmas he used to do some kind of medley of hymns but I suspect that's because he only knew a few bars of each. And it wasn't even a proper xylophone, it was one of the small ones with different coloured bits of metal that you'd get from a toyshop. Gutted. He was a real character. Along with mentalist god-bothering woman who used to roam the very same street in Nottingham randomly shouting quotes from the bible at people and advising us that we would all burn in hell if we didn't listen. Those were the days.
So, yesterday I woke up at 9am and made my way over to Blackheath to take part in the Cancer Research run for life. Met up with Suzanne and Nalini and then the 7000 of us all took part in a mass aerobics warm-up which must have looked quite funny. Then at 11.22am after lining up at for ages we passed through the start and were on our way. S & N have run two marathons each so I only jogged with them for the first few minutes before the first stitch of many began to kick in. It was unlike anything I've ever done. There were so many girls/women taking part that at no point was I running/walking on my own. And a lot of people had pink notes pinned to their backs with names and photos of the people that they were running in rememberance/celebration of. It was really sad but also quite uplifting at the same time.
It took me 14 mins to do the first 2k which got me thinking that although I'd generously allowed myself 2 hours to finish, I might actually get through in under an hour depending on how tired I got. I passed the 4k mark at 30 mins and as I saw the finish in the distance, set myself the challenge of finishing in under 40 mins. As I neared the end there were more and more people standing at the sides cheering and although I had one almighty stitch due to my severe lack of training, I didn't want to look like a nonce and so ran the last 400m. As I got within 50m from the line I heard S & N cheering me on at the side so I stuck my tongue out at them and sprinted to the end. It was such a relief to finish - along with the thrill of being congratulated by the lovely Llewelyn-Bowen - that I thought I was going to be sick. I managed to restrain myself and picked up my medal and goodies and then went and found the others.
They were very impressed, as was I, at my time. It had taken them 25 mins to finish so an extra 10 mins by me is pretty good going I think. Given that I literally haven't done any exercise in about 5 years. All this excitement and it wasn't even 1pm.
It wiped me out for the rest of the day. I got home, stumbled onto my bed, ate something, put the telly on and then dozed for a few hours. Forced myself up at about 6.30pm and did absolutely nothing for the rest of the evening. Typically I couldn't get to sleep last night - overtired.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
OH MY GOD!!!!!!!
CHECK THIS OUT!!!
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Thursday, July 01, 2004
This week and last I have spent going out and staying out on the monday, thereby writing off the rest of the week. It is very clever of me and seems to be stopping me from spending too much cash but does put a limit on how much fun I can have in a week.
Met up with Dan, Waen, Katy, Tom and Julia and stupidly put on my Jeremy Lion badge not realising that Jeremy Lion was going to be there too. Before I had a chance to slip it off Katy had already pointed out my fandom to Jeremy. (I think I have a problem separating Justin from Jeremy... they look very similar except Justin wears trendier clothes and doesn't drink as much... and is looking v slender... and they have similar names so its not entirely my fault). Managed not to hear much about the new show except that Jeremy Lion does a rap. Very excited. Cannot wait. We are seeing Waen's, Justin's and Richard Herring's shows the day the previews start so I want it all to be as big a surprise as possible. Poppy turned up for about 5 mins which was nice cos I've not seen her in ages and she is totally fantastic - you'd like Pops.
Supposed to be going out with the beautiful Miss Howard tonight but I just won't be able to stay awake long enough. These youngsters can run circles around me now... One night of not much sleep and I'm a gonner. Went to the Fortnight Club on Monday with Johnny and saw lots of good people. Some slag was nasty to Paul Foot which was a shame cos he was really funny and I think it upset him a tiny bit. Steve Williams was also on... as was Danny Bhoy, Markus Birdman, Sarah Kendall (who is great) and some others that I forget. Got a message from my parents saying they were locking the house at 10.30pm so there wasn't really much point in me going home. Charming. Bring on September... going to move out. Cannot wait. It;s going to be very liberating indeed.
Met up with Dan, Waen, Katy, Tom and Julia and stupidly put on my Jeremy Lion badge not realising that Jeremy Lion was going to be there too. Before I had a chance to slip it off Katy had already pointed out my fandom to Jeremy. (I think I have a problem separating Justin from Jeremy... they look very similar except Justin wears trendier clothes and doesn't drink as much... and is looking v slender... and they have similar names so its not entirely my fault). Managed not to hear much about the new show except that Jeremy Lion does a rap. Very excited. Cannot wait. We are seeing Waen's, Justin's and Richard Herring's shows the day the previews start so I want it all to be as big a surprise as possible. Poppy turned up for about 5 mins which was nice cos I've not seen her in ages and she is totally fantastic - you'd like Pops.
Supposed to be going out with the beautiful Miss Howard tonight but I just won't be able to stay awake long enough. These youngsters can run circles around me now... One night of not much sleep and I'm a gonner. Went to the Fortnight Club on Monday with Johnny and saw lots of good people. Some slag was nasty to Paul Foot which was a shame cos he was really funny and I think it upset him a tiny bit. Steve Williams was also on... as was Danny Bhoy, Markus Birdman, Sarah Kendall (who is great) and some others that I forget. Got a message from my parents saying they were locking the house at 10.30pm so there wasn't really much point in me going home. Charming. Bring on September... going to move out. Cannot wait. It;s going to be very liberating indeed.