Yesterday I was flying to Bristol with Easyjet. Not much can go wrong. As I buckled up my belt I thought I'd mis heard the destination "Belfast" metioned over the intercom. I queried this with the guy in front:
"Is this flight for Belfast mate?"
"I bloody hope so" came the reply.
I'd had my ticket clearly marked with Bristol checked by several members of staff but still managed to get on the wrong flight. Luckily the Bristol flight was delayed so I didn't miss out on the day's entertainment.
The lesson to be learned if you buy a very cheap ticket you could get a very expensive flight to a destination that starts with the same letter (New York instead of Newcastle anybody?).
To quote John Scott , "Primark with wings".
Friday 6 March 2009
General Fiasco - The Best Pop Band From Northern Ireland Since Ash or even The Undertones?
Three gigs in seven daysis a lot for me in recent times , but this was another stunning one , so I've been well rewarded for staying out late!! I first saw General Fiasco sandwiched between The Plan For Tonight and Fighting With Wire at the Cluney , but this was my first view of them as headliners.
Support was The Farrels and the excellent 3 Foot Ninja who finished their set with a storming version of "Firestarter" , well worth seeing.
But back to General Fiasco, the thing that amazed me was that every song was instantly listenable. A visit to their myspace page confirmed that and last nights gig emphasised it in spades with a blistering ne opener as well as "old" favourites such as "Ever So Shy" and "Something Sometime" , the new single, which you can get from itunes here . They've recently signed with B-Unique so we should be getting an album by June or July, but as yet we're still waiting, but "Rebel Get By" (on itunes here) and "Something Sometime" are available.
The new single "Something Sometime":
Official Video for "Rebel Get By":
...
Support was The Farrels and the excellent 3 Foot Ninja who finished their set with a storming version of "Firestarter" , well worth seeing.
But back to General Fiasco, the thing that amazed me was that every song was instantly listenable. A visit to their myspace page confirmed that and last nights gig emphasised it in spades with a blistering ne opener as well as "old" favourites such as "Ever So Shy" and "Something Sometime" , the new single, which you can get from itunes here . They've recently signed with B-Unique so we should be getting an album by June or July, but as yet we're still waiting, but "Rebel Get By" (on itunes here) and "Something Sometime" are available.
The new single "Something Sometime":
Official Video for "Rebel Get By":
...
Sunday 1 March 2009
The Grand Piano Never Stood A Chance!!!
Just back from a great weekend in London , the highlight of which was a visit to the legendary 100 Club to see a guy called Ben Waters , apparently well liked by Jools Holland. The guy is simply phenomenal , with a backing band of bass , drums and saxophone(s) the guty played incredible piano destroying , boogie woogie that I've not been aware of since the Killer himself. Aknowledging debts to the likes of Amos Milburn , Waters is simply a must see if you ever get the chance. Below is him doing various types of keyboard annihalation:
And here's the hilarious East German version of Johnny B Goode!!!
And Broken Piano Blues!!!
And the fabulous "Melting Pot"
Ben Waters on Myspace here
Ben Waters Website here
And here's the hilarious East German version of Johnny B Goode!!!
And Broken Piano Blues!!!
And the fabulous "Melting Pot"
Ben Waters on Myspace here
Ben Waters Website here
Friday 27 February 2009
Fairport Convention and....Phil Cool??
Just got back from a superb gig and a half at the Journal Tyne Theatre in Newcastle. Fairport Convention supported by Phil Cool ... or so I thought. In fact the support act was Phil Cool and Ken Nicol. Ken Nicol is an absolutely stunning guitarist doing mainly acoustic stuff , but providing some stunning electric lead in lieu of Richard Thompson for the all troupe encompassing finale of "Meet On The Ledge". Phil Cool is no less a revelation , while still being funny as hell, he can song , play acoustic rhythm and write the odd excellent song.
Fairport themselves were excellent , the current incarnation comprising Simon Nicol , Dave Pegg , Chris Lesley , Ric Sanders and Gerry Conway. The played lots of stuff I hadnt previously heard , but also did a storming version of "Matty Groves" , three songs from "Babbacombe Lee" as well as "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" and the afformentioned "Meet On The Ledge", there's some youtube footage below:
Will pad this out with links and pictures but this is it for now.
Interestingly this is the first time I've bought albums on a USB Stick / Keyring , the Nicol & Cool and Ken Nicol - Initial Variations albums. Save's a bit of space in the CD racks!!
The official Fairport site is here.
Phil Cool's site is here.
Ken Nicol's site is here.
Fairport themselves were excellent , the current incarnation comprising Simon Nicol , Dave Pegg , Chris Lesley , Ric Sanders and Gerry Conway. The played lots of stuff I hadnt previously heard , but also did a storming version of "Matty Groves" , three songs from "Babbacombe Lee" as well as "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" and the afformentioned "Meet On The Ledge", there's some youtube footage below:
Will pad this out with links and pictures but this is it for now.
Interestingly this is the first time I've bought albums on a USB Stick / Keyring , the Nicol & Cool and Ken Nicol - Initial Variations albums. Save's a bit of space in the CD racks!!
The official Fairport site is here.
Phil Cool's site is here.
Ken Nicol's site is here.
Sunday 22 February 2009
Winamp Remote On ASUS Running Linux
A new toy , and when I eventually got it sorted , it works fine. A simple set up , and I assume that Apple / iTunes have something similar but this'll do me. I have Winamp running on my main PC , but you need to download Winamp Remote and have this running on your home PC.
Then you set up an account account and in the web settings on your ASUS Eee, selecting Realplayer (which I generally detest as a product) as the preferred streaming method , this seems to use the browsers (Firefox) inbuilt player. So now I can have my music anywhere as long as my PC is running!!
If you want to try it here's 25 Free MP3s from Emusic:
Then you set up an account account and in the web settings on your ASUS Eee, selecting Realplayer (which I generally detest as a product) as the preferred streaming method , this seems to use the browsers (Firefox) inbuilt player. So now I can have my music anywhere as long as my PC is running!!
If you want to try it here's 25 Free MP3s from Emusic:
Saturday 14 February 2009
Modern Life Is Stylish (But Rubbish)
Well we've just had the deepest snow this year , here and the back garden is still white but the residue on the local footpaths is just slippier ice.
Earlier this year we had a new bathroom suite fitted,
see here. It looks very nice and is very nice but has one potentially disastrous design flaw which came to haunt me yesterday when laeving the running tap during shaving to answer a phone call. The bath and sing have no emergency overflow!!! The weight of the water had pushed the integral plug down and I returned to the bathroom just as the water hit the top of the sink. Luckily I caught it just in time, but could be worse could be like this!! Now imagine walking into that bathroom!!
Earlier this year we had a new bathroom suite fitted,
see here. It looks very nice and is very nice but has one potentially disastrous design flaw which came to haunt me yesterday when laeving the running tap during shaving to answer a phone call. The bath and sing have no emergency overflow!!! The weight of the water had pushed the integral plug down and I returned to the bathroom just as the water hit the top of the sink. Luckily I caught it just in time, but could be worse could be like this!! Now imagine walking into that bathroom!!
Tuesday 3 February 2009
Idiosyncracies Dublin and Newcastle
Well the snows virtually gone, the main PC has packed up, but walking for the bus this morning the bus driver let us on outside the front door. Admittedly there was a bit of a jam , but better than some of the miseries you get.
A few things I noticed in Dublin:
In these days of super duper mobiles , Dublin is as up to date as anywhere , but it seems everyone just has the default ringtone on their phone which is far more annoying that the MP3 customisation that we get over here.
Also in the posh (well five quid for a hot chocolate , knockin' Travolta's five dollar shake for six) Butler's Chocolate Cafe , you have to collect your drinks from the counter . I was flabbergasted. At five quid a drink I expect MORE than waitress service!!!
Alternatively in the decent pubs such as the Ha'Penny Bridge, The Druids Cair , The Queens and Finnegans they server the drinks at your table no matter how busy they are.
A few things I noticed in Dublin:
In these days of super duper mobiles , Dublin is as up to date as anywhere , but it seems everyone just has the default ringtone on their phone which is far more annoying that the MP3 customisation that we get over here.
Also in the posh (well five quid for a hot chocolate , knockin' Travolta's five dollar shake for six) Butler's Chocolate Cafe , you have to collect your drinks from the counter . I was flabbergasted. At five quid a drink I expect MORE than waitress service!!!
Alternatively in the decent pubs such as the Ha'Penny Bridge, The Druids Cair , The Queens and Finnegans they server the drinks at your table no matter how busy they are.
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