Wednesday, November 16, 2005

 

"What's all this shouting? We'll have
no trouble here."


The League of Gentlemen are downright bizarre.



Physical State: coughy
Mental State: sludgey
Music: Static - Flavour Has No Name
Fashion sense: white t-shirt, jeans

Word of the day (a new feature)

portmanteau

n 1: a new word formed by joining two others and combining their meanings; "`smog' is a blend of `smoke' and `fog'"; "`motel' is a portmanteau word made by combining `motor' and `hotel'"; "`brunch' is a well-known portmanteau" [syn: blend, portmanteau word] 2: a large travelling bag made of stiff leather [syn: Gladstone, Gladstone bag]

***

Once again late to the party I have recently discovered the BBC's League of Gentlemen series on dvd. This freakshow of a series takes place in the mythical village of Royston Vasey and believe me you don't want to stay there. To say that this series crosses Kids in the Hall with Twin Peaks and a healthy dose of Tales From The Crypt as imagined if it happened in Northern England only scratches the surface. This show is truly F**ked with a capital F. But in a good and entertaining way. The range of characters, makeup and costumes that this troupe comes up with is truly inspired and creative (and at times disturbing). This show doesn't get as much attention as other Britcoms probably because of it's bizarre nature when compared to series like The Office or Absolutely Fabulous. I do agree that it is the long lost cousin to shows like Kids In The Hall or Mr. Show in spirit, but the production values are much higher. Be sure to check it out for something truly different.

AND THEN

The good news is that I have been accepted into the Humber College post-grad program for Radio Broadcasting so come January I will again be a student for 8 months. Next Fall around this time I will have completed a two-month internship at a radio station (not sure which one or where yet). The fun is going to be how I can manage to stay financially stable now that a large part of my income will drop off from not being able to work days. Should be interesting.

MEANWHILE

I am still feeling the aftermath of my trip to the UK (including a nasty cold that has immobilized me it seems). I'd like to thank my friends Richard, Claire and Ben for showing me around and putting me up while I was there. I had a great time. I think over time I will share more stories but I am still processing it all. Here are a few tidbits that I passed on to my friend John of memorable things from my trip:

Scout Niblett @ Korner's Bar, Farmer's Arms Pub, Lancaster, Lancashire
Meeting Bearsuit
Vegetarian full english breakfast @ Whales Tail Cafe, Lancaster
Yorkshire Dales Way walking (lots of sheep and amazing views)
Black Horse Pub, Grassington, North Yorkshire (the most deserved beer I ever drank)
Black Sheep Best Bitters (beer)
Claire Kember's mushroom/eggplant casserole (recipe forthcoming)
Wensleydale cheese
Rough Trade Records in Notting Hill
Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night in Lewes, East Sussex
Meeting Samantha Morton walking in Islington
New Pornographers and Immaculate Machine at 93 Feet East bar
Billy Childish leading the Buff Medways at The Boston Arms (Tufnell Park)
Seeing Tim (Martin Freeman) from The Office having lunch at Wagamama
Diane Arbus photo exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum
pain au chocolat (new found appreciation)

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

 

'Ello, 'ello. Back from London, mate!



Physical State: jetlagged
Mental State: foggy
Music: Brent's Atlantacast
Fashion sense: black t-shirt, pajama bottom

Yes it has been "donkey's years" (to coin a phrase of my friend Claire) since I wrote anything to this blog. I am still here and I've finally returned from a two week holiday in London. So it is 5am and since the time change has f**ked me up it feels like 10am (I was up in the middle of the night thinking "why am I sleeping in?"). I had a great time (and apparently spent far too much money). It was very cool to visit Northern England and check out Feedback in Lancaster, Lancashire. I also want to thank one of the members of the Feedback collective, Richard for putting me up for a few days while I dj'ed their event two nights. The excellent Bearsuit were on the Friday and the next night I saw a very memorable Scout Niblett gig that I will cherish forever (Scout was really sweet). After Feedback and Lancaster it was a walk through Yorkshire Dales country which was a bizarre and enriching experience. Walking The Dales Way listening to Boards of Canada is probably one of the most amazing experiences I've had.

The remainder of the trip was spent in London with my friend Claire Kember (see below). I had an amazing time being shown around, storming the record stores (natch) and even seeing my fellow countrymen (and woman), The New Pornographers, playing the 93 Feet Street East. More to come.

As they say it's nice to go away but it's good to be back home (who the hell are "they" anyway).

Hopefully now that I'm back I can get to my two radioindierock.com shows that were left unfinished.

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