Friday 30 October 2009

BlackLOG finds a voice, out and about London and hair problems

Thanks to OceanDreams the BlackLOG now has a soundtrack (I'm so chuffed that I will even excuse OD for accusing me of being a lady). This now gives you a number of choices:

  • Read in silence;
  • Listen to the music in the hope it will take away from the pain of having to read this garbage;
  • Select different tracks enjoy the music and forget about the Blog.
Instructions for use
Use the buttons like a real Ipod Touch

=  Pause

>  Play

>>| Next Track

|<< Previous Track

If you click on the arrow at the top of the Touch,  under Mixpod.com you get to  select any of the tunes that I have currently loaded. (let me know what you think of the choice...)

Natioanal Portrait Gallery
Wednesday Mrs B got invited along to the National Portrait Gallery, by one of her customers. One of those sponsored open evenings, for Beatles to Bowie an exhibition of pop photo's in the 1960's. Since I have always been a fan of sixties music I jumped at the chance of joining her. It was fascinating stuff, especially listing to all the other guests attempting to chat in a knowledgeable way about stuff they clearly didn't have a clue about :-

None descript clueless guest :- "Oh The Kinks, weren't they the ones that were big in America but hardly known over here?"

Me in my head :- "No they were banned from touring America and thus stayed here and developed there unique English sound"

-----------------------------------------------------

None descript clueless guest :- "Look how rough the Stones looked compared to the Beatles. That's because the Beatles never did drugs..."
Me in my head :- "Other than the pot, LSD, heroin (Lennon certainly)"

We had so much fun that we left rather later than intended. The plan had been to go to 'Oliver's - Jamie Oliver's new restaurant over at Canary Wharf. It was gone 9 when we got there and we were told that the wait for a table was a minimum 45 Minutes. As it was late and we were both starving we decided to cut our losses and go to the Canteen instead. This promised good wholesome British cuisine using the best ingredients. What is failed to say was poorly cooked - very disappointing, we both kind of wished we had held out for the table at Oliver's.....Live and learn

All Pictures in this weeks BlackLOG were taken with my
Nikon D700 using a 70 - 200mm lens
No Pop Stars were hurt during the production of this weeks Blog

I could not take any photo's inside the
gallery so this is as close as I got

Friday and off to Brixton
It was Franz Ferdinand at the Brixton Academy and yet another covert operation to smuggle the beast through security. We had unreserved circle tickets and I planned to get there early enough to bag a couple  front row seats; leaving Mrs B to do her normal - swan in just before the main act hits the stage. Unfortunately, and very predictably, the London traffic had other ideas for me.

Eventually, I managed to park about 5 minutes walk from the venue and was there about 20 minutes after the doors were thrown open (I'm guessing here, they may just have unlocked them and stood back). I had stripped the beast down so it looked more like an average-sized camera. Security gave a brief ruffle through my rucksack and then I was in, racing up the stairs. The front row had already gone but I found a couple of seats in the second row towards the centre.

It was as I sat down that I had that "Wait a minute, this is a gig and this is the BlackLOG feeling" because it had all gone a bit too well. It then dawned on me; my mobile phone - the only hope of contacting Mrs B and letting her know where I was - was sitting in the car. I asked around if I could borrow someones phone, even offering hard cash to use it, but they all either claimed the battery was flat or that they did not have a phone on them.

In truth it would have been of little use as I don't retain Mrs B's mobile number in my head. I'm afraid I have a 3 phone number memory - my work number, my home number and the phone number of my childhood home. For some reason no other number has ever stuck in my head (not even my own mobile), they are all stored in my phone and on my PC. I have tried deleting my childhood number from my memory bank but I can't convince another number to take its place.

I didn't really want to lose my hard fought for seats or attempt to get the beast in for a second time.  It was leap of faith time. I put my coat on one seat and my rucksack (with the beast inside) on the other.

Gulp

I turned to the group behind me and instructed them to guard the seats, rucksack and coats with their lives. They were Chinese,  I have a feeling they didn't speak English as they just nodded at me enthusiastically. For all I know they probably thought I had just gifted everything to them. I was just about the leave the auditorium when I realised that I had left my ticket in my coat pocket. I glared at the Chinese people with my best

"If these go missing I'm going to stand in front of you at every concert you ever go to" stare.

They nodded even more enthusiastically. I retrieved my ticket and made my way towards the exit with the BIG signs that said

"Strictly no re-admittance under any circumstances".

My heart sank...but I decided to ask anyway.

I explained to the doorman my dilemma - Mrs B lost in the wilderness with no way of contacting me. I didn't hold anything back (other than the fact I had smuggled in the beast). I made Tiny Tim sound like a nasty piece of work, out robbing the poor and not even bothering to pass on any of his proceeds to the rich...

The doorman stared at me as if I was asking him to roast his first born and serve them on a silver platter with a sprig of mint rammed delicately up their bottom.

I may have whimpered slightly.

He caved and called for his boss.

I went through the whole humiliating routine again, as he looked on impassively. I put my heart into it, reaching to the very depth of my soul, trawling for emotions that not even Laurence Olivier or Sir John Gielgud had managed to master in their heyday.

I'm sure I saw a twitch of emotion spread across his face but on reflection it was probably just a bit of indigestion.

My life was now hanging in the balance with Mrs B left unattended on the streets of Brixton. ....

He left me to sweat for a bit then grabbed my ticket, scrawled something eligible on it and I was out and running for the car.

I grabbed the phone and read the message from Mrs B.

'Train running slow will be late home'

"Nnnnoooooooo!!!!" Mrs B had gone home.

No wait, that was yesterday's message. Mrs B would be arriving around 8pm.

I made my way back to the venue and was relieved to be re-admitted. I was even more relieved to find that my new found Chinese friends were still grinning away and had not tried to unwrap their gifts. There was a bit of a stand off when they were unhappy about losing them but I stood up and glared down at them. They stood up and glared determinedly at my midriff....The matter was settled when they failed to lift the rucksack - victory was mine.

The support "Music go Music" - was mostly notable for the lead singer being in a constant state of different swimming costumes - an interesting choice for a late October evening in Brixton but each to their own.

As for Franz Ferdinand - they were fantastic live. I had seen them earlier in the year, at one of the gigs that Mrs B had missed. I was right in assuming that Mrs B would love them and with the bonus of being able to see it all as well. I'm a bit undecided on this one, however: standing and being able to bop around but with a restricted view versus a good view from the circle but not being allowed to stand. Security were rather hot on this, jumping on anyone who attempted to even stand up for a stretch. Fortunately this kept them so busy that I had plenty of opportunity to rebuild the beast and get some pictures. Rather than just prattle on, I'll let the photos do the talking. I've given up trying to load the video footage.........after waiting 12 hours for the PC to fail to load only 35 seconds of footage is just getting ridiculous.



Alex Kapranos Lead Vocals and Guitar




Alex and Mick McCarthy (rhythm guitar and keyboards)
 I have some excellent video footage of Mick going
mental playing his guitar but unfortunately
Blogger won't load it at the moment



Just before the encore the roadies came on and set up
some drums at the front of the stage - The group then
treated us to some excellent percussion.



Alex giving it some emotion




No, not the shadows



Drummer Paul Thomson - giving us some stick



Getting everyone to sing along



I thought they were going to play musical chairs for a moment


When life tells us that it might be finally time to give up on Christmas
With Christmas around the corner all the miserable people who delight in wallowing around and having an awful time and want to bring the rest of us down have had their dreams answered. Yes - Bob Dylan has released a Christmas Album. Now don't get me wrong, I love Bob's lyrics but not even his mother could love his singing. Warning - these are covers and do not contain any of his own lyrics so it really is the worst of all worlds....

Swimming problems
My hair has been going through bad times recently (due to doing loads of swimming, around 2 mile a week at the moment) and has been changing just like cartoon magic, with the mere wave of a wand producing:

Ptzz

Art Garfunkel (circa early 1970's)

Ptzz

The Scarecrow's hairstyle from the Wizard of Oz

Ptzz

A bowling ball
OK that last one was not my hair but the silicone rubber cap that I am now using in an attempt to retain what little is left of it.


Inadvertently inappropriate comment of the week.

I had just dragged myself out of the pool after a mile long swim and got chatting to some bloke. Not sure how we got around to it but he mentioned a friend of his who had just given up his well paid job in the city and was cycling around the world.

I piped up "That must take real balls to make that choice." A statement which fell on stoney silence

I was frostily informed that it had cost exactly three balls to be precise as his friend had lost both and he himself had lost one to testicular cancer.... and his friend was now cycling around the world to raise funds for male cancer research.

Talk about a strike - just as well my head was in bowling ball mode....



34 comments:

  1. Ouch. Terrible gaffe there with the balls Mr B. Deary deary me. Also, I can tell that Mrs B has not yet had the opportunity to proof read this entry, there are so many I wouldn't know where to start, but it made me larfff old man, so got to be worth leaving unedited. Still, can't wait to tell my old man about the ball thing, painfully cringeworthy. Bet you wished the gound would open.....

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  2. Aaarrgghhh, I made a typo too, ground, not gound, please forgive me - grovel, grovel

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  3. Skipper Don't you think he should be wearing a badge warning people that he was monoballed...

    You are forgiven as it made me laugh right back at you.

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  4. Does the beast go everywhere with you?! Great pictures :)

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  5. Great photos! I've actually only heard one song by Franz Ferdinand before (No You Girls)...but I do like that one. :) I'm afraid if you did that here in America - asked someone to guard your seats and your stuff - you would have returned to find them looooong gone. I'm glad it went well for you.

    Regarding your unfortunate comment - that's what I call a Homer Simpson "DOH!" moment...but how were you supposed to know the circumstances? They should have cut you some slack (and it *was* funny).

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  6. BlackLOG... you crack me up. The image of you convincing the security guy to let you do the "back insies" and the Chinese folks getting gifts. I love it!

    Ooooh... re the ball thing... yowza. One of those times when you wish you could UNsay something. But you know, we all do that at some point. I've said things like that more often than I'd like to admit!

    Hope you're having an awesome Friday my friend!
    ~Penny

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  7. Smileyfreak Does the beast go everywhere with you?! Great pictures :)

    Almost everywhere that I think I can get away with. Mrs B draws the line at bed time. We only have a small bed which is already full of cats. So the beast has a bedroom all to itself.... Thanks, I really love the challenge of concerts, all that cloak and dagger trying to get in and then the problems with the lighting

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  8. GingerellaGreat photos! I've actually only heard one song by Franz Ferdinand before (No You Girls)...but I do like that one. :) I'll load some more FF the songs on the site, they are a great little band

    I'm afraid if you did that here in America - asked someone to guard your seats and your stuff - you would have returned to find them looooong gone. I'm glad it went well for you.When I think about it, I can't believe I did it. I just panicked when I realised that I could not contact Mrs B. Yes that could have turned out really bad....

    Regarding your unfortunate comment - that's what I call a Homer Simpson "DOH!" moment...but how were you supposed to know the circumstances? They should have cut you some slack (and it *was* funny). To be honest I did milk it a bit in the Blog, for entertainment purposes. The guy actually thought it was funny. I'm afraid I often get into such conversations.

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  9. PI - BlackLOG... you crack me up. The image of you convincing the security guy to let you go "back inside" and the Chinese folks getting gifts. I love it!
    It's the curse of an over imaganitive mind, The BlackLOG is all based on true events but sometimes needs a bit of spice to keep it interesting.

    Ooooh... re the ball thing... yowza. One of those times when you wish you could UNsay something. But you know, we all do that at some point. I've said things like that more often than I'd like to admit! As I said to Gingerella the guy thought it was funny, so it was not as bad as the BlackLOG made out

    Hope you're having an awesome Friday my friend! Not bad for a dull cloudy day. Have you had your snow yet?

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  10. I think you need to find a new way to smuggle the beast. And why do all monoballed men ride bikes? Correlation, does anyone else see it? Is it more comfortable? Or is losing one a result of the riding...hmmm..

    As for Twilight. You have to read the books, the movie is bad. Except for the hot bloke from across the pond (his looks, not his acting). Yep, I'm big on the metrosexual vampire look (which my husband is not) Sadly I can't explain it. Mostly I think it's something about an immortal man that you never have to worry about feeding or dying. Yep, that sums it up!

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  11. We got a little bit of snow... but instead of the 10 inches predicted we got less than one. BUT the skies are still cloudy so I'm hopeful. No point in having an overcast day if we don't even get any precip out of the deal!

    I figured maybe you exaggerated just a *leetle* bit. The flair for the dramatic you know... ;o)

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  12. That is neat! The IPOD thingy! No tracks from Kings of Leon? :(

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  13. Nikki I think you need to find a new way to smuggle the beast. It has been successful so far. I'm not stuffing it down the front of my trousers as that would fool no one. I guess I could present it was a third leg....You Americans were possibly spared the Rolf Harris song "Jake the Peg, with his extra leg"

    And why do all monoballed men ride bikes? Correlation, does anyone else see it? Is it more comfortable? Or is losing one a result of the riding...hmmm.. I would have though it makes it more uncomfortable, with two they can dangle either side. With one you are left either trying to balance on it or risk being dragged over on one side (Let a man dream)

    As for Twilight. You have to read the books, the movie is bad. Except for the hot bloke from across the pond (his looks, not his acting). Yep, I'm big on the metrosexual vampire look (which my husband is not) Sadly I can't explain it. Mostly I think it's something about an immortal man that you never have to worry about feeding or dying. Yep, that sums it up! Can't say he did anything for me, I do prefer my actors to be less wooden. I guess there is always the hope that he gets Dutch elm disease and we can have him chopped down and used for fire wood…

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  14. PI We got a little bit of snow... but instead of the 10 inches predicted we got less than one. BUT the skies are still cloudy so I'm hopeful. No point in having an overcast day if we don't even get any precip out of the deal!

    I figured maybe you exaggerated just a *leetle* bit. The flair for the dramatic you know... ;o)
    Damn and I thought I had got away with it, all those over writing classes wasted....

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  15. WannabeVirginia W. That is neat! The IPOD thingy! No tracks from Kings of Leon? :(

    Why didn’t you say you wanted it to be a request blog. Ok, Which track do you want?

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  16. So glad it finally worked out and you got in in the end!

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  17. Nice post - testicular cancer pictures ..Keep Posting


    Ron
    testicular cancer pictures

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  18. LiLu thank you, failure to get back in would have been a complete disaster. The poor beast would have been left orphaned........No doubt sold into salvery in China....

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  19. HungaryJack welcome to the BlackLOG.... Thanks for the link, I already feel guilty enough...

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  20. *mutters* good grief now I've got to put the headphones on in order to read this blog!!!! But hang on it's the Icicle Works so yay.

    Am now settled into this blog for the foreseable future and as such have spent greater care then usual and instead of skimming the blog have read it carefully............... and result!!!! I've found a typo (it's really a grammatical error but I'll give you the benefit and all that!)

    there or their ?!?

    Who this singer who sounds a bit like Pink.... Ida someone. Hmmmm.

    As a local I don't personally know the brothers who have set off on their bikes, but I do know their mum - she might see the funny side of your comment, but I don't think I'll mention it to her!

    Wires - athlete - this is good.

    It's all your fault I'm not get an early night now.

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  21. HAHAHAH!! you know, biking isn't exactly the best thing to be doing if you have "ball" issues. seriously, what are they thinking?

    manhattaninhd.com

    PS I LOVE THIS SONG THAT IS PLAYING RIGHT NOW! "whisper to a scream"

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  22. IMO

    *mutters* good grief now I've got to put the headphones on in order to read this blog!!!! But hang on it's the Icicle Works so yay. It is so amazing that years after the demise, people discover how good they are. Icicle works, one of my favorite bands ever, I guess partly because they never made it huge so I got to see them play in lots of great small venues…

    Am now settled into this blog for the foreseable future and as such have spent greater care then usual and instead of skimming the blog have read it carefully............... and result!!!! I've found a typo (it's really a grammatical error but I'll give you the benefit and all that!)

    there or their ?!?
    Oh no teach2....I can't believe you have read the BlackLOG for this long and only just realised how bad my spelling and none existent my grammar is. P.S. would it be churlish to mention that ‘foreseable’ should be ‘foreseeable’. Sorry I would not have noticed but spell checker ratted you out.

    Who this singer who sounds a bit like Pink.... Ida someone. Hmmmm. Ida Marie – a Norwegian singer. As you can tell from the lyrics those Scandinavians are far less repressed then us British….I love the line “I like me so much better when you’re naked” P.S. don't show this out of context to Mr Imo

    a local I don't personally know the brothers who have set off on their bikes, but I do know their mum - she might see the funny side of your comment, but I don't think I'll mention it to her! very wise, unlike me….

    Wires - athlete - this is good. I’m glad you like some of the music choices

    It's all your fault I'm not get an early night now.At least I only post once a week, some of those blogs out there are daily and twice the size…

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  23. Film Girl

    HAHAHAH!! you know, biking isn't exactly the best thing to be doing if you have "ball" issues. seriously, what are they thinking? I think the point is they no longer have any ball issues.....Which begs the question - "Does that mean they now have to ride side saddle?"

    manhattaninhd.com - looks like I will have to visit and show you how to make an active link

    PS I LOVE THIS SONG THAT IS PLAYING RIGHT NOW! "whisper to a scream" Excellent taste young lady

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  24. P.S. would it be churlish to mention that ‘foreseable’ should be ‘foreseeable’. Sorry I would not have noticed but spell checker ratted you out.

    aghhhhh................. caught out.

    I love the line “I like me so much better when you’re naked” P.S. don't show this out of context to Mr Imo

    That's why she reminds a bit of Pink - in sound and lyrics !!!

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  25. L -- enjoyed your post tremendously, if not rather feeling your pain, as I to, find myself in these situations as the norm....and that's a good time, right? I am also relieved to discover another who has zero storage capacity for telephone numbers...I love your National Portrait Gallery. That exhibit sounds awesome.......as for the ballsy remark (!) honestly, how were you to know - that person seemed a bit humorless himself.....thanks for stopping by....

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  26. I Wonder Wye
    I wake up in a cold sweat about

    1) Failing to find Mrs. B
    2) The beast going missing – I have milk carton campaign ready to roll in case it ever goes missing….

    Not remembering my own mobile number is a real killer. I've had that same one for about 10 years and have ported it faithfully from phone to phone and how does it repay me…it refuses to lodge in my head….Aaaarrrggghhh

    Yes the inappropriate remark, on the plus side it is real Blogger Goldmine…

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  27. Hahahahaha....I love your comment. Totally something I would say. I'm surprised the other guy told you about their exact ball issues. Hahaha. Awkward.

    Glad you had fun at the exhibition and concert. Minus the less than satisfactory food and the misplaced phone ;)

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  28. I loved The Kinks...

    "Girl...you really got me going...you've got me so I don't know what I'm doing...."

    A group after my own heart...

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  29. Brooke
    Hahahahaha....I love your comment. Totally something I would say. I'm surprised the other guy told you about their exact ball issues. Hahaha. Awkward.

    Glad you had fun at the exhibition and concert. Minus the less than satisfactory food and the misplaced phone ;)


    For some strange reason men who have lost their nuts seem to have a need to share....He's lucky I don't have a nut allergy, that could have been very nasty

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  30. Kathryn

    I loved The Kinks...

    "Girl...you really got me going...you've got me so I don't know what I'm doing...."

    A group after my own heart...


    Sounds a bit kinky in a girl on girl no actions barred sort of way

    I took Mrs B to see Ray Davies (lead singer of the Kinks) at the Albert Hall. What should have been a fantastic night was ruined when Mr Davies decided to torture his audience by playing Kinks songs from the 70s period. I can assure you this was not a good time for the Kinks and as I looked across at Mrs B, I feared she had gone into a Comma. The bl##dy audience did not help, politely applauding each awful offering, which only encouraging him to play more of the rubbish. To make matters worse, Ray had a 20 minute interval, (not exactly Rock and Roll, but I guess at his age he no longer has the bladder control). He fooled us into staying for the second half by playing a couple of Kinks classics just before the break, besides Mrs B was still unconscious at this stage.

    The second half started like a hamster on downers and I came close to putting Mrs B over my shoulder and making for the exit, but by this time lethargy had set in and I was losing my will to live (yet alone leave), it got to the point where I wanted to hurl myself off the balcony* ,when could I believe my ears, was that the strains of Days, followed by Waterloos Sunset, Lola, All Day and All Of The Night the concert was up and running, Mrs B started to emerge from hibernation and all was well with the world.

    * Concert ticket sellers have now joined Estate Agents and Travel Agents on my list of waste of time professions. Despite purchasing the tickets on the day they went on sale, they managed to obtain for us some much sort after tickets in the back row of the upper circle, thanks a bunch, I’ll be sure to use them again as soon as the devil puts on his Ice-skates and glides around his domain.

    Why couldn’t Ray have done this from the start, I could almost have forgiven him if he had been playing new songs to flog a forthcoming album, but to take us through the graveyard that was the Kinks 70’s career, I just wish he would exorcise his ghosts to none paying members of the public. Even diehard Kinks fans who purchased music from this period only play it after Christmas, in an effort to get unwanted relatives to leave**.

    With Kaiser Chiefs and Athlete concerts lined up over the next couple of months, I’m praying for better things, otherwise I might be requiring the services of a good divorce lawyer.

    ** This is a dangerous card to play and should not be attempted with out good quality ear muffs, as over exposure can leave you with suicidal tendencies. A number of people with def relatives have driven themselves insane or worse and it can only be a matter of time before one of them appears in the Darwin Awards.

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  31. I have camera envy.

    Also, I hate auto-play music with a passion. Mostly because people have no taste. I'm happy to say I am unable to accuse you of that crime.

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  32. Capricorn Cringe hi, thanks for popping in and making a comment on the BlackLOG, always much appreciated

    As for the beast, I was fortunate enough to get a bonus after 20 years of working for the same company. I really wanted to put it to something memorable. It has really got me back into photography.

    Pop in anytime I’ll try and make sure the music standard does not drop…

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