I had something very insightful to post here but now I've forgotten it. Now I'm just feeling incredibly envious of Ed Stockham's ability to make stuff.
I think I'm going to have to pistol whip Cliffey into making Cranberry Panda a reality. More on that soon...?
Joel.
Monday 17 October 2011
Sunday 16 October 2011
Lazitude
Just one post for October? Appalling, I know. Especially since last October had like twenty. You lot probably have no idea what's going on around here, do you?
Well Tom and Cliffey and I did indeed go to the football in Swindon. There was some pre-match doubt as to whether we could actually be bothered to pay the entrance fee but we did eventually squeeze through the turnstile and into the stadium, where we witnessed a rather nail-biting 3-3 draw. We were sat in the Swindon stand but were secretly supporting Hereford, which Tom made painfully obvious by going "YEEEEEEAH!" after the first Hereford goal.
Since then...no particular incidents spring to mind and that's maybe a sign that I should update this more frequently. I've been going to uni, which is fine by me because I have Wednesdays and Thursdays off so it kind of works out that I get two weekends. I've been going over to Swanbridge on those days to keep Sarah company in Sturff (she seems to end up working those days a lot, oddly) and, well, everything's pretty dandy I suppose. I still have no idea how my life is going to go after university, but at least I've got my unpaid journalism gig.
JD
Friday 7 October 2011
The Last Big Weekend of the Summer
LAST WEEKEND
Unusually splendid weather for October. Aside from my fully foreseen FIFA failure (fuck), we spent a lovely weekend at Sian's house, in Penarth.
The sun had been out all week, and we'd decided beforehand that we ought to make the most of it on the weekend with some activity or other. Said activity turned out to be a barbecue* in Sian's rather spacious garden, so we hit up Tesco, bought some burgers and sausages and alcohol, and-
Oh but I'm getting ahead of myself. Earlier that Saturday, a few of us had been at Varsity, enjoying the Merseyside derby (or not, in some cases) and eating food and drinking drink. Sarah and I shared a pitcher of strawberry daiquiri, which got us surprisingly tipsy. I'm sure this is the wrong way 'round, but I seem to be getting lightweighter every time I drink.
But yes, once we had sobered up (and, in some cases, cheered up; Everton is a silly team to support), we headed to Tesco and then on to Sian's. The barbecue** was a great success, and I was even cajoled into watching The X Factor. And missing Strictly Come Dancing, which I still haven't had time to catch up on, but there we are.
Sunday was beautiful too, so we hit the pier and got some ice cream. We also saw a fisherman catch a conger eel, which was exciting.
So that was the last big weekend of the summer.
THIS WEEKEND
As I'm typing this on Friday afternoon, the weather is actually quite nice, but we're doing Autumnal things this time around. Tomorrow it's football; Tom, Cliffey and I are going to Swindon to watch Hereford lose again, because a) Tom seems to enjoy watching his team be rubbish, and b) Paolo Di Canio will be there. On Sunday, Sarah and I will be eating Sunday dinner with my parents...and also her parents. It'll be the first time our folks have met each other, so hopefully all will go smoothly and we'll be enjoying the crackle of fireworks and the crunch of leaves underfoot before we know it.
By the way, my review is here. Hopefully there'll be another one soon.
Joel.
*I still can't believe that the word 'barbecue' contains no letter Q.
**Seriously!
Unusually splendid weather for October. Aside from my fully foreseen FIFA failure (fuck), we spent a lovely weekend at Sian's house, in Penarth.
The sun had been out all week, and we'd decided beforehand that we ought to make the most of it on the weekend with some activity or other. Said activity turned out to be a barbecue* in Sian's rather spacious garden, so we hit up Tesco, bought some burgers and sausages and alcohol, and-
Oh but I'm getting ahead of myself. Earlier that Saturday, a few of us had been at Varsity, enjoying the Merseyside derby (or not, in some cases) and eating food and drinking drink. Sarah and I shared a pitcher of strawberry daiquiri, which got us surprisingly tipsy. I'm sure this is the wrong way 'round, but I seem to be getting lightweighter every time I drink.
But yes, once we had sobered up (and, in some cases, cheered up; Everton is a silly team to support), we headed to Tesco and then on to Sian's. The barbecue** was a great success, and I was even cajoled into watching The X Factor. And missing Strictly Come Dancing, which I still haven't had time to catch up on, but there we are.
Sunday was beautiful too, so we hit the pier and got some ice cream. We also saw a fisherman catch a conger eel, which was exciting.
So that was the last big weekend of the summer.
THIS WEEKEND
As I'm typing this on Friday afternoon, the weather is actually quite nice, but we're doing Autumnal things this time around. Tomorrow it's football; Tom, Cliffey and I are going to Swindon to watch Hereford lose again, because a) Tom seems to enjoy watching his team be rubbish, and b) Paolo Di Canio will be there. On Sunday, Sarah and I will be eating Sunday dinner with my parents...and also her parents. It'll be the first time our folks have met each other, so hopefully all will go smoothly and we'll be enjoying the crackle of fireworks and the crunch of leaves underfoot before we know it.
By the way, my review is here. Hopefully there'll be another one soon.
Joel.
*I still can't believe that the word 'barbecue' contains no letter Q.
**Seriously!
Friday 30 September 2011
The Phantom Video Sniffer
So yeah, Cliffey and I went to that gig and it was good, although being as it was a 14+ show we did feel rather old. I won't go on about it too much here because hopefully my review should be up on the Miniature Music Press website before too long and I can just lazily link you all to that.
Lovely weather we're having recently, isn't it? There are rumours that a group of us might be going to Barry Island on Sunday, to frolic and laugh and play with a ball and generally make the most of this unusual warmth.
Sarah's been missing most of the sunshine due to, y'know, jobs and stuff, so it was a pleasant surprise yesterday when her dad came into Sturff and told us that he would look after the shop for a bit if we wanted to have a meander around Penarth.
We acceded, naturally, and so off we went to work on our tans. I of course live a pretty leisurely life, so had already seen my share of the sun (hell, I'd been doing timed laps earlier in the day to pass the time), but for Sarah, who had barely been outside all week, this was a revelation. Summer, it seemed, had finally arrived.
...Mind you, it was really hot outdoors, so we periodically took shelter in Penarth's many charity shops. We didn't buy anything, but we did see a boy getting slightly intimate with some old VHS cassettes in the Oxfam shop. I thought he was just sniffing them; Sarah suspects that he was in fact licking them. Either way.
Cliffey and Tom were playing FIFA '12 last night, mere hours after its midnight release. I suspect we might join them this evening. Apparently it's really difficult to tackle now. To be honest I was never that good at it to begin with.
Hello Facebook apologies. How I didn't miss you.
Joel.
Lovely weather we're having recently, isn't it? There are rumours that a group of us might be going to Barry Island on Sunday, to frolic and laugh and play with a ball and generally make the most of this unusual warmth.
Sarah's been missing most of the sunshine due to, y'know, jobs and stuff, so it was a pleasant surprise yesterday when her dad came into Sturff and told us that he would look after the shop for a bit if we wanted to have a meander around Penarth.
We acceded, naturally, and so off we went to work on our tans. I of course live a pretty leisurely life, so had already seen my share of the sun (hell, I'd been doing timed laps earlier in the day to pass the time), but for Sarah, who had barely been outside all week, this was a revelation. Summer, it seemed, had finally arrived.
...Mind you, it was really hot outdoors, so we periodically took shelter in Penarth's many charity shops. We didn't buy anything, but we did see a boy getting slightly intimate with some old VHS cassettes in the Oxfam shop. I thought he was just sniffing them; Sarah suspects that he was in fact licking them. Either way.
Cliffey and Tom were playing FIFA '12 last night, mere hours after its midnight release. I suspect we might join them this evening. Apparently it's really difficult to tackle now. To be honest I was never that good at it to begin with.
Hello Facebook apologies. How I didn't miss you.
Joel.
Wednesday 28 September 2011
Joel Dear, The New Lester Bangs
I have plans for tonight. I'm on a guestlist.
Of the several things I neglected to mention in yesterday's entry, probably the most important is the small matter of my burgeoning journalism career. Remember my Willy Mason review? Well, I sent it to a bunch of folks and one of them got back to me. The Miniature Music Press - a local publication for local music - said it was cool and would I like to review some other stuff for them?
Of course I would. So tonight I am going to Clwb Ifor Bach to see OK, a local band who are playing a show to promote their new single. As I said up top, I'm on the guestlist, and I even get a plus one! I'm gonna feel so awesome at the entrance, provided they believe my story. I'm sure they will.
So who's my plus one? Sarah, right? Actually no. She's back home in Swanbridge tonight so I asked Cliffey if he wanted to come and keep me company instead (it means that, after the gig, there'll be someone to remind me of what happened). I showed him a couple of OK's songs, and he decided that they were, well, okay.
Hence, we shall be off to the Welsh club in a matter of minutes. But that's not to say that you should be. Josh is playing at the newly refurbished Cardiff Arts Institute tonight, and since I can't go and support him, you all should instead.
He's totally adorable. I think you'll like him.
Joel.
Of the several things I neglected to mention in yesterday's entry, probably the most important is the small matter of my burgeoning journalism career. Remember my Willy Mason review? Well, I sent it to a bunch of folks and one of them got back to me. The Miniature Music Press - a local publication for local music - said it was cool and would I like to review some other stuff for them?
Of course I would. So tonight I am going to Clwb Ifor Bach to see OK, a local band who are playing a show to promote their new single. As I said up top, I'm on the guestlist, and I even get a plus one! I'm gonna feel so awesome at the entrance, provided they believe my story. I'm sure they will.
So who's my plus one? Sarah, right? Actually no. She's back home in Swanbridge tonight so I asked Cliffey if he wanted to come and keep me company instead (it means that, after the gig, there'll be someone to remind me of what happened). I showed him a couple of OK's songs, and he decided that they were, well, okay.
Hence, we shall be off to the Welsh club in a matter of minutes. But that's not to say that you should be. Josh is playing at the newly refurbished Cardiff Arts Institute tonight, and since I can't go and support him, you all should instead.
He's totally adorable. I think you'll like him.
Joel.
Tuesday 27 September 2011
A Variety of Societies
Improvisational Approaches, then. It did in fact involve a fair bit of jammin', and it was good to back in the company of the musical folk who made the Shrek gig such a cool thing way back when. Our assignment for the morning was to make up some grooves, and obviously I had lots of fun with that even if the baritone horn isn't a particularly 'groovy' instrument*.
Just after this session I was waiting for a bus home when I received a text from Cliffey. It was his Fresher's Fayre, and he was asking if I wanted to go with him and get a bunch of "free shit" (his words). I decided that yes, I would like some free shit. Sarah, who had work later but not yet, would be joining us, and so - still lumbered by my baritone - I headed on over to the Great Hall to meet them.
There were a great variety of societies on offer for Cardiff students but, unfortunately, I'm not one**. Cliffey, on the other hand, is one, so Sarah and I were left to look on in amusement as he signed up for:
Well, they did, but not until after Sarah had left for Next. She's got two weeks off soon which she's very excited about, but unfortunately this time off did not arrive soon enough for her to receive her chips.
Obviously I stepped up in her absence and gruffled them myself. They were delicious, although the taste was somewhat soured by my subsequent Trivial Pursuit defeat at the hands of one Sian Lewis.
I could probably have named the six murder weapons in Cluedo if anyone had asked me. But no-one did.
Joel.
*Jen heard me practising the other and told me that I'm much better than I used to be. I guess that's basically a compliment, so thanks, Jen!
**That of course didn't stop me conning my way onto AltSoc's mailing list; I thought an alternative music society was an interesting prospect but it seems that they mostly just go to Metro's, which frankly is nothing new. I did appreciate their free sweets though, so thanks, AltSoc!
Just after this session I was waiting for a bus home when I received a text from Cliffey. It was his Fresher's Fayre, and he was asking if I wanted to go with him and get a bunch of "free shit" (his words). I decided that yes, I would like some free shit. Sarah, who had work later but not yet, would be joining us, and so - still lumbered by my baritone - I headed on over to the Great Hall to meet them.
There were a great variety of societies on offer for Cardiff students but, unfortunately, I'm not one**. Cliffey, on the other hand, is one, so Sarah and I were left to look on in amusement as he signed up for:
- The Poker Society! (if you beat their pro player then membership is free!)
- The Northern Society! (Cliffey of course was born and raised in Cardiff but his dad's from Huddersfield so that sort of counts)
- The Cookery Society! (they had free lemon cake)
- And another one that I can't remember. Ask him yourselves.
Well, they did, but not until after Sarah had left for Next. She's got two weeks off soon which she's very excited about, but unfortunately this time off did not arrive soon enough for her to receive her chips.
Obviously I stepped up in her absence and gruffled them myself. They were delicious, although the taste was somewhat soured by my subsequent Trivial Pursuit defeat at the hands of one Sian Lewis.
I could probably have named the six murder weapons in Cluedo if anyone had asked me. But no-one did.
Joel.
*Jen heard me practising the other and told me that I'm much better than I used to be. I guess that's basically a compliment, so thanks, Jen!
**That of course didn't stop me conning my way onto AltSoc's mailing list; I thought an alternative music society was an interesting prospect but it seems that they mostly just go to Metro's, which frankly is nothing new. I did appreciate their free sweets though, so thanks, AltSoc!
Sunday 25 September 2011
Fun & Interesting Things
It has occurred to me that there was a ten-day gap between my last two posts. I'm sure you're all wondering if any fun things happened over that period.
The answer is yes! One fun thing is that Tom and I were playing FIFA, and he was beating me 8-0 so I got angry and turned it off!
Ha!
Joel.
The answer is yes! One fun thing is that Tom and I were playing FIFA, and he was beating me 8-0 so I got angry and turned it off!
Ha!
Joel.
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