So, apparently I’m nineteen now. How’d that happen?

The majority of my birthday has been spent reclining in a hotel bed attempting to shake off the remaining fluey feelings. I’m not complaining because I wasn’t really celebrating my birthday this year due to the general chaos of life! That said, I’ve had a good day :-) 

I think the highlight for me was my mother’s gift to me, a low whistle. Having played high whistle for a little while now the low whistle was a natural progression so that was what I asked for. Earlier in the week we went out to buy one. Because I was quite ill I was unable to try the whistles, well I didn’t feel it was fair to anyway, so the first time I heard my whistle was today. It’s a Dixon Alloy and, my goodness, does it have a beautiful, haunting tone.  Not managed to reach above second octave G yet but that’ll come with time, practice, and probably be easier when I’ve recovered my lung capacity in a week or so! As I’m sending this on my phone I won’t pop a picture in but I’m in love.

I also really want to say thank you to Aimee who gave me a card that made me smile and laugh and was just perfect. With her permission, which I haven’t got yet, I might upload a photo tomorrow. She also gave me a gemstone necklace which is lovely. Basically, my friend thought about what I would like and hit the nail on the head. Thanks Aimee!

Right now I’m waiting for my mother to finish working so we can go and pick up my father from home and go to my favourite restaurant for dinner. I’ve spent many a birthday in that place, and many a day full stop! Having gone in there since I was about five, the owners know me quite well!

I haven’t read my facebook messages yet, although I know I have some as my phone keeps vibrating. I’ll wait until I have internet access to read them properly but thank you if you sent me something. It means the world to me.

And that’s it, I think!

And that was my weekend!

The weekend was absolutely wonderful. I saw the amazing Rapalje, for a full review click here, and then it was off to Cardiff to see the best friend Aimee.

Arriving in her flat at about five on the Saturday I wasn’t overly shocked to see that it was about as much of a mess as her bedroom at home and couldn’t help but grab the broom. In short, it took us about two seconds to fall back into our respective roles. Of course, we couldn’t fall back into our roles without me cooking dinner although it seems that Aimee has suddenly learned to cook now she’s alone (I think she’s always feigned incompetence).

Spinach pie looked quite good.

Proof Aimee ate it of her own free will, just in case she dies :P

Sadly, I struggle with simple kitchen tasks like making ‘tea’

Of course, it being a Saturday night the majority of people in the university halls hit the town. Aimee and I, not to be outdone, decided to stay up late watching Disney’s Swan Princess. It’s lucky we did because one of her room-mates came back drunk, and noisy, and scattered Aimee’s freezer tray around the flat. Sadly, we only realized this after the sausages that had been placed in the shower had defrosted.

If you understand this picture then you know Disney
too well. If not… watch the film :P

Sunday was the day we had both waited for, however, and it came round pretty quick. The morning was spent meeting up with Gareth, a friend of mine who I met several years ago through the THUKST. Eventually, I managed to convince Aimee to come on down and queue for HIM (where we met up with Kim again!)

The HIM gig was surreal as anything. I’ve already written about the band and my history with them but nothing can really prepare you for seeing one of your ‘childhood bands’ on stage. I’m still not quite sure it happened!

I must say that I did rather like the tech at the venue although it was suggested that the dry icey smokiness was the cause of my chest and throat hurting during the gig. It was a great all round experience.

The crowd weren’t as raucous as I had expected, and Gas, the band’s drummer, commented on how quiet they were. I can’t say that I mind a quieter crowd. Actually, talking about that, there was a group of people behind me who were talking about us wearing earplugs and how we shouldn’t be at the front with earplugs, daring each other to take them out so we’d have to go to the back. If this group happen to read this then please know that earplugs are good to protect your ears, the musicians wear them, good quality earplugs improve sound quality, oh and I could hear every word you were saying! I also have a spare pair on me at all times due to tinnitus! Well, that turned into a mini rant!

Aimee looking stunning after the show

I look about how I felt. Very happy but in pain
and about ready to collapse!

Tea and cake; There’s no better way to recover from a gig.

The morning after was spent feeling grim (I’ve since come down with a mild flu-type thing) and meeting up with Kieran! It was great to see him again and we had a lovely meal in a place called Ruby Tuesday. The strawberry lemonade was heaven! Next time we meet up I’ll hopefully be able to talk a bit more ;-)

A sad farewell to Aimee, and a long journey home later I collapse with flu and then eventually recover enough to write all this up.

So, that was my wonderful weekend. I won’t thank everyone here but I must thank Rapalje for the best show ever (and for being lovely), HIM for existing and playing so many songs from my childhood, Aimee for being my best friend, and her flatmates for not only putting up with me but for being both kind and great fun!

Making Aimee's present, the Harry Potter Cake

This blog post is a scheduled post, written during the last week but set to automatically post while I'm at Aimee's.

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So, right now I'm visiting The Annoying One in Cardiff, where she's just started university (my little girl's growing up!). Anyway, this visit falls on the Weekend Between Our Birthdays which means it's a party time. As last year we're going to go to a gig but, different to last year, we're also going to have a joint celebration because it was impractical to meet up twice in such quick succession.

So, during the last week I've been having fun making Aimee's birthday presents, a mix CD and a cake. I've not made a birthday cake for a couple of years, although I used to make them all the time, so it's been an interesting time. The easiest part was thinking of a theme, Aimee having just been sorted into Slytherin at her university's Harry Potter society seemed to decide for me! (*)

Day One, making the decoration

Asda might have the best selection of baking products but
their food colouring lids have serious design flaws.

Finished the main decoration. Yes, this was my
second attempt but I'm pretty pleased :-)

Day two, making the cake

Is it cheap to make a cake board out of two pizza
board things glued together and covered in foil?

The cake itself is finished and wrapped in clingfilm, ready to
ice tomorrow! (the pizza in the background had to be cooked for
the sake of the board... see previous image!)

Day three, shoving it all together (and remaking the decoration because things never do go to plan)

Buttercream (green of course) and jam in
position, ready to assemble!

The final thing, albeit the colour looks faded in this photo.

(*) Actually, I toyed with the idea of a TARDIS cake for a while but Aimee judged Harry Potter to be more important than Dr. Who so...

Seeing one of my favourite bands in one of my favourite places

So, last Friday, as I mentioned, I got to see the most wonderful Rapalje perform their first show in England, namely in Glastonbury. They played two shows, the Friday and the Saturday, but, unfortunately I was only able to attend the Friday night performance. Oh well!

Rapalje are a Dutch folk band playing manly Irish and Scottish songs/tunes while wearing kilts. They're multi-cultural, shall we say? They're also incredibly multi-talented with each one of them playing various instruments to exceptional standards while putting on one hell of a show. In case you can't guess, I really enjoyed the performance. In fact, I would be surprised if I ever didn't enjoy one of their performances. Although I loved this band for a long time, listening to CDs and watching youtube videos, it wasn't until I saw them live last year that I truly appreciated their brilliance. 

As my camera wasn't up to photographing this show (I think the backlighting was confusing for it) there are no photos of the performance here. I spent my time dancing ;-)

Sorcha67 has uploaded this video of Heart of Steel (as well as Under the Scotsman's Kilt which was performed on the Saturday) so we'll just use them instead of photos hehe

I don't really know what to write about the performance. It was brilliant, as always. I was really happy to hear most of my favourite songs played including "Wat zullen we drinken", which I didn't expect because of the language barrier. I'll be honest that I missed a few songs that weren't played but I'm guessing that they got a showing on the Saturday and it's 100% my fault for missing out on that show. It also gives me an excuse to attempt to catch them again later in the year/next year in Europe!

I have to say that David's low whistle playing with the giggles in the first number was superb! One of the reasons why I should never be allowed to play a wind instrument on stage; I'd fall apart!! I was also happy to see that Dieb seemed to hit another band mate with his bow while playing at one stage... so I'm not the only one who does that!

I also got to meet the band after the show which, as one woman said, “made my night”. Certainly, it was a lovely ending to the evening. The band members were all true gentlemen who were more than willing to chat a bit, sign my painting things, and have photos taken with me. They were absolutely lovely, in short, above and beyond what I expect! Oh, and William and I were staying in the same hotel and after a couple of encounters in the elevator I can say that he has a great sense of humour too!

With Maceál

With David (in a photo that my mother likes to call 'The Hair Monster')

With William

With Dieb

They also , very kindly, signed some little painting cards I did but as I've not quite finished the paintings this time (the tartan on David's isn't painted, the bagpipes aren't cut out and nor is the fiddle's head as it would have lost tuning pegs in my handbag) I won't upload a photo of them this time. Maybe later :-)

I cannot wait to see Rapalje perform again (and nor can my mother).

Nothing like a busy weekend!

Well, this weekend is VERY exciting. So exciting that I just wrote 'very' in caps lock as opposed to italics and you know how much I love my italics.

Firstly, on Friday, I am seeing one of my favourite bands in the world, Rapalje. That makes it two of my favourite bands in one month, not bad going right? Having seen Rapalje live for the first time at Castlefest I was getting withdrawal symptoms. I logged onto their facebook to see when their shows were as I had decided to travel and see them on the continent and what did I see but this post, posted about an hour earlier.

Post by RAPALJE.

Actually, they're playing two shows but I can only catch one of them. Not complaining though because the weekend's not over yet!

I'm going straight from Glastonbury to Cardiff to see my best friend (and probably the most annoying person I know!) Aimee for the first time in what seems like forever. I think it's been two months in reality ;-)

As always we'll celebrate the weekend between our birthdays in style (cake anyone?) and we will also be seeing the band HIM. HIM are a special band for the two of us, and for our friendship because, the first time we went away together, on a history themed holiday with school, we watched two videos in the common room. These videos, and the songs with them, became our holiday's theme.

Looking back this wasn't the best song for a WWII trip 

but I'd just bought my first Deathstars CD so... :-)

To this day the phrase "Your life ain't worth living", 

in any context, makes us laugh!

Anyway, I will take my laptop with me because I feel insecure without it (and I like putting my photos off my camera safely!) but whether I'll log on over the weekend is unsure. There'll be blogs a plenty when I get back though as I'm sure I'll have a fair bit of news ;-)

Oh, and then it's my birthday on the 31st so the fun's not over yet hehe

A joyous week

Well, I have to find some way to keep both Teddy and
myself amused when staying in Travelodges, right?

The last week has been simply wonderful. The (undisclosed) family issues are ongoing but the events of the last seven days have managed to prevail and I have had a fantastic time. Happy October is winning ;-)

As I wrote a few days ago, I managed to see Reckless Love again last week, which was a wonderful evening but just as importantly, if not more so, I got to meet up with Kim and Ola. Although I had only met them once before (and had only briefly met Ola, in reality), it was wonderful to see them again. Kim had been exceptionally kind to Aimee and I last year (I don't think that she knows how to be anything but kind!) and both she and Ola are great fun so that was a great start to my 'social week'.

However, it remained special as I met Pam, a Thai penpal of mine, who is now living and studying in Exeter. Friday was the first time for us to meet face to face and I can only say that I am so pleased that I have met her. She is sweet and lovely, although of course I already knew that! I was also really pleased that she is settling into life in Exeter, and in England generally. Can't wait to see her again!

Pam and I by Exeter Cathedral. Taken on
her phone by some other girls. :-)

And then, here's the bonus, my mother decided to book an extra night in Exeter, Lloyd phoned me randomly and we arranged a brief meet up too as he just so happened to be back from university. What a case of right place right time! He also introduced me to Nandos and I can say that it gets my seal of approval.

I'm now back in Birmingham, for a while, and attempting to get some paintings done ready to sell. Problem is that I keep getting distracted and painting things for myself (i.e. scrapbooking). The light in the Travelodge room is too bad to paint now so I have an excuse to be blogging ;-)

Until later!

The wonderful night that was a Reckless Love gig!

Just under a year ago I managed to catch one of my favourite bands, Reckless Love, at the Cavern, Exeter. This was one of the best live performances I have seen and, even if I hadn't have loved the band beforehand I would have undoubtedly come away with a new addiction! Wednesday 9th, I managed to see them again, this time at The Fleece, Bristol and, to be fair, I think they outdid themselves.

In the queue with Ola, photo taken by Kim on Ola's phone

I went with Kim, a lovely person who I had met at the last Reckless Love show and had spoken with since, and with Ola who I also met briefly last time. It was wonderful to have such great company in the queue, at the show, and afterwards too.

From left to right, Me, Ola, Kim in the venue.
Taken by Kim on her camera

But now onto the show itself...

There were two warm up acts. The first of which, BlackWolf, was a local band that I’d heard good things about but hadn't listened to in advance. I’ll be brutally honest and say that I didn't enjoy their set. The sound tech was atrocious, and they knew it as they asked for it to be adjusted during the set, and I feel this really let them down. The vocals couldn't be heard at all. It’s really sad when something like this happens as it’s not the band’s fault but it ruins the performance. I also got really paranoid about the vocalist, in particular, who was bouncing and spinning around and the microphone wire was getting tangled and I could just see him about to fall. He never did but I spent the whole time waiting! I feel that I would like to listen to some of their music again just to give them a fair chance.

Oh, their drummer managed to hit both Kim and Ola on the head with one of the drumsticks he threw into the crowd so that's another negative point ;-)

They were followed by Laura Wilde, a female rock and roll musician from Melbourne, Australia, and her band. I had managed to listen to her in advance and, although I hadn't had time to get to know her music very well I did like what I had heard. Again, she had technical issues on stage but it was slightly better and you could at least hear her over the instruments. She was also a great performer and it felt like you were getting a show as opposed to just listening to some songs. I've downloaded her CD from amazon and, if she comes back to England to play, I would try and see her again. Oh, I also spoke to her briefly and she was lovely which matters a lot.

Anyway, onto the main act, Reckless Love. There are photos for this section because I suddenly remembered that I had a camera with me (idiotic Havanah!)

The minute that “The Boys are Back in Town” starts playing over the speakers, the crowd goes wild. We all know that the show is about to begin and, true to form, out walk the band. 

For the next hour and a half, at an estimate, nothing matters but having fun and listening to some great music. The pain from waiting outside in the cold for about four hours and then standing through the earlier acts is gone and it's suddenly possible to dance. In fact, I don't know if it would be possible to stay still through their set!

One of the things I love about Reckless Love as musicians is that, when performing live, they sound just as good as on the CDs. I have to be honest and say that this seems to be a rare quality of live bands but I guess that this is a sign of just how long they spent working together before getting signed. They also are really rather good at playing a mixture of songs from their albums, fitting them together and keeping the crowd going from start to finish. My one complaint would be that they didn't play "One More Time" this show but as one person was rather idiotic and rude, pulling on Olli's trousers and demanding requesting the song I am kind of pleased he didn't get what he wanted!

However, it's not just their skill as musicians that make Reckless Love stand out but the show that they put on. The whole band are completely dynamic when on-stage, including Hessu who could get away with 'just sitting there', being at the back of the stage. Of course, it's Olli who can move the most, having his hands a bit more free than the others, and move he does. Not content with dancing that man ends up climbing on whatever is in front of the stage, leaning into the audience, putting on as much as a show as he is physically able. Of course, if a few people get trodden on or crushed by bits of stage furniture it's all in the spirit of things, right? On the plus side, the fact that there was a bigger stage than at the Cavern meant that I didn't have to dive backwards to avoid being kicked in the face at any point!

When the show was over, way too soon, we hung around to attempt to meet the band members. Last time Aimee and I only managed to meet Pepe before her grandmother stormed in to take her home (long story) and Kim missed Jalle so we all had an aim here. (I'm not sure exactly who Ola met last time but we'll assume she didn't meet them all either!)

We did manage to meet all of the band who were all delightful. I mean Olli walked off when I tried to have my photo taken with him and then said I couldn't have one, Jalle asked me if I was tired when I said hello to him, and Pepe struggled with my pen lid but I'm going to say that is down to me being a bit of a jinx! Joking aside, they were lovely gentlemen, all four of them, and it was great to get to see them.

My paintings based on the album cover art (not the one on the inside of the album
and the jackets).The band were kind enough to sign them for me - Hurrah! 

With Olli

With Jalle

With Pepe

With Hessu