Tuesday, 27. December 2005, 13:20:47
Merry Christmas one and all!! What's that? I'm a little late? That is true. I've been my usual lazy self and not updated my blog in a while - so, that means this one is going to be a lengthy post. Grab yourself a chair, a cup of tea, and let Matthew tell you all about it...
Christmas TimeFirst thing first, last thing last - and christmas seems to be top of everyone's agenda. For me, Christmas this year was slightly disappointing to be honest. Okay, good points were that it was a nice christmas dinner and that I got to see Amanda (best friend) on christmas day. But aside from that - things just didn't feel right.
Christmas day we usually get up and then open all the presents. Around noon, my grandparents come round for dinner, and we have a full christmas dinner. The afternoon sees us watching a film on TV with my grandparents, and then they head home in the evening and we go to my nanna's (my dad's side of the family) for more festive fun.
But, wait a second... that is similar to what happened this year. I got up, we opened presents. Then I went round to see Amanda, came home to dinner with my grandparents. We watched Shrek after dinner, and they went home - we went to my nanna's... But the christmas vibe wasn't there. I don't know what it was. It just felt different.
And then, Boxing Day
was disappointing. Boxing Day is usually good, because I go round to my grandmas who makes a Christmas dinner - and the festive spirit continues there. What is particularly good about it is that my Auntie Vera used to come round - and I love her to bits. Only, this year there was no Boxing Day dinner round at my grandmas, because she's broken her arm. And can't cook. And my Auntie Vera wasn't there, because she's dead. So, Boxing Day I sat home all day... doing nothing.
Ah well. Things will be 'right next year.
MusicBefore the joys of Christmas, on the 20th December I took a trip to
Night & Day Cafe - possibly my favourite gig venue. Playing that night were meant to be a band called
Jamestown, who I know through the wonders of MySpace - and so I thought I'd go along.
Because I like to be in the know - I checked out the other bands that were playing that day on the internet and listened to a few of their songs. One band that stood out in particular was
Little Man Tate, and so when Jamestown announced they'd cancelled their performance, I went along to see Little Man Tate anyway.
They, along with
Bromheads Jacket are
my new favourite band. Live, they were brilliant - and their songs are fantastic too. I also used the gig as a photo opportunity and got
some brilliant shots that night to add to my collection. This time, I'm actually going to email them round to a few publications - to see if anyone wants to make a purchase - because Little Man Tate are an upcoming band from Sheffield (as are many since
Arctic Monkeys fame hype).
I was chatting to the lead singer of Little Man Tate after they came offstage who invited us for a drink, and told him that I'll be trying to sell the photos - which he was quite happy to let me to. Though, he was
slightly pissed.
As for Bromheads Jacket, my other new favourite band, they are playing at Manchester's
Jabez Clegg on the 18th January 2006. You're all very welcome to come and stalk me, or watch the band - but no touching, of either, without my permission. You can
legally download some of their tracks here. Wonderful.
PhotographyI found a great photographer's site. Its amazing what you can find when you look.
Jenny Lewis is photographer to the stars with a nice array of portrait photography of famous people including
Sharon Osbourne,
Keira Knightley,
Nick Cave and
that guy out of Shameless and the new Narnia film. She also has her focus on photography for bands and musicians, shooting
The Beastie Boys,
Green Day,
Tom Vek and
Goldie Lookin Chain. Check it out.
And whilst you're marvelling at her wonderful shots, don't forget to
check out my gig photos.
World Wide WebElsewhere on the net, I've got back into
Last.fm (aka Audioscrobbler). Since they changed it from Audioscrobbler to Last.fm, I went off it. They upped the subscription costs and my plugin stopped working with my iPod - but all is well again in the world and the plugin works again for me, and I've coughed up some money to become a subscriber - because I now have the money to.
So,
my profile is flourishing beautifully - and you should feel free to check out my musical tastes.
The RestThank you to everyone that bought me Christmas presents. Especially Amanda who bought me a lovely hoodie, two-tone iPod cover and a soft toy keyring thing.
I think the HMV girl who I fell head over heels for has a boyfriend. But the bright side to that is that now it'll be easy to, and I'm gonna, ask her out someplace after work. As friends, you understand... because I'm more confident when I've no intention of 'gettin jiggy' with someone.The past few days I've had the most awful cold. Its awful because its not really a cold, its just a bunged up nose that won't debung, which makes it hard to breath.
The other day I bought myself Ghostbusters 1 & 2 on DVD. Special edition and everything! Its ages since I seen that film, so it will be brilliant to watch it again.I think I might head out now, go for a walk, and take some photos.
Sexy In LatinToday's post title derives from the Little Man Tate song,
Sexy In Latin.
" by Lee Clayton and he handed me a copy of the CD. I took his advice, and upon first listening to the album wasn't too impressed - but then, the second time or third time I listened, something clicked. I remember being sat on the coach alone on my way to Leeds, looking out the window as the coach sped across the motorways, and found myself really enjoying the album.
" which is a 2 disc collection featuring 1978s "Border Affair", 1979s "Naked Child" and the 1981 release "The Dream Goes On" - if you like what you hear below, I recommend you add it to your collection.
WIDGETIZE