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:

• 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.

Free shit duly acquired we headed to The Woodville for a sit down and some food. Sarah was ravenous, and ordered a bowl of chips that she could gruffle before work but sadly they never arrived.

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!

Hand Me The Defending Dice

Yesterday was the first day of my last year at the Atrium.

That means that I've got a year - less, in fact - until I have to become a real person. Job, non-student accommodation, etc. etc.

And standing between me and that point are, among other things, a 10,000-word dissertation and some sort of major group project, the specifics of which remain to be seen.

But let's not worry about that yet. Last night we played Risk, although we had our share of real-life obstacles to conquer before we could think about conquering the world.

1. I had been suffering from a migraine for much of the afternoon, which culminated in a bizarre episode during which the entire right side of my body fell asleep. Fortunately, I managed to sleep it off in time to go with Cliffey to pick Sarah up from Penarth...
2. ...but we got there rather late due to a combination of traffic and errands that Cliffey had to run in Lisvane, including stops at his dad's house, the Griffin, and Sainsbury's, where we picked up JR.
3. Once we had collected Sarah, we decided to pop to Tesco's to buy some Risk snacks. Sarah and I got a pizza each, and I spent the rest of the evening being mocked for spending four pounds on Sarah's when she had (allegedly) told me to get a cheaper one. 
4. Tewkesbury Place is no place for a game of Risk, and so we opted to play in what used to be JR's mum's house. The house is currently unoccupied, but JR had the key and there were enough facilities still about to...facilitate a game of Risk. A table, four chairs, an oven in which we could cook overpriced pizzas. Plus, unexpectedly, a mammoth spider that forced us all to evacuate the house in terror. We stood outside for a while, wondering how to get our board game and pizzas back from the monster that was holding them hostage, when JR decided to step up and deal with it. The spider, you'll be pleased to know, was neutralised (read squished) by a speaker that JR dropped on it. 

So after all of that, we sat down and did some wars. We had decided beforehand that we weren't bothering with the mission cards; our only goal was complete world domination, and we expected to get a good few hours from it.

I had terrible luck with the dice, rolling mostly twos and ones, and while I did manage to hold on to South America for a good few turns I was very quickly put in my place (which, as it turned out, was a few territories in central Asia). Cliffey found himself in a similar position, with JR and Sarah the only ones who looked at all likely to win, so he and I formed an alliance. At first it was just a handshake agreement not to attack each other, but eventually we went the whole hog. Up until then, I had been the green troops, Cliffey the blue, but our merger saw us trade in both of those colours for a nice, Communist red*. JR and Sarah weren't best pleased, and they formed a similar alliance in protest (although it wasn't so much a coming together of military minds as it was Sarah signing over her troops and territories to her ginger overlord). Cliffey and I made a valiant push for victory, capturing most of Asia and North America in the process, but eventually the JR-Saz coalition brought the proverbial speaker down on top of us.

And so JR has gone, victorious, back to work. Uni for me kicks off on Monday, when I'll be dragging the ol' baritone in for its first 'improvisational approaches' session. What that will entail I'm not sure. Hopefully just two hours of unadulterated jammin'.

Joel.

*In an ideal world we'd have chosen the colour that would have resulted from mixing blue and green together, but seeing as bluey-green wasn't an option, we went with red. I like it because it's Liverpool's colour; Cliffey went with it because it's also Wales's.

Life's A Game/Manly Garments

Tom is in the house, and he, Sarah and I have just finished playing the Game of Life for the second time in less than 24 hours.

He was here last night too, you see. He popped by after work, and the three of us went to the rec to kick the Cars ball about for a bit, take some penalties, make some passes, that kind of thing. On reflection I will probably not be the next Pepe Reina.

After that we returned home, and after having various meals (I had pasta and mussels in cream; Sarah fishcakes. Tom just ordered a pizza) I coerced the other two into playing the game. They were reluctant at first but it didn't take them long to get into it. Sarah was a scientist to begin with, but she lost her job and became an actress, earning a fair few grand more for her troubles. I was an artist-turned-rock star, and Tom was an athlete (if you asked him he would tell you he was Usain Bolt...he was not), but neither of us could mount any kind of challenge and Sarah finished the game as a millionaire, while we barely had 10k each. Still, it was the first time Tom had ever been in the black. Zing!

Today was more interesting. Tom the Scientist and Sarah the Doctor (both of whom went to uni) seemed to be competing in a two-horse race for the win, while Joel the Pilot (who did not) was toiling away in 3rd. But oh! A well-placed bet won me £400,00, and I managed to pip them both to the post. Yeah!

And now the revelation: I have been typing this whole thing while wearing a rabbit onesie, complete with a little heart for a tail. Before setting up the Life board again, Tom and I took a trip to Primark. So now Tom is a dalmatian, and Sarah and I are a pair of bunnies. Cliffey, in a shocking turn of events, is not wearing his onesie, for I think the first time since he got it. But three onesies is probably enough for one room.

Sarah is currently poking Tom.

But not like that.

Joel.

P.S. Oh, and our little shopping trip got even gayer when we popped to HMV. Keep in mind that we already had a Primark bag full of onesie each, and Tom saw fit to buy a Destiny's Child compilation to go with his. Jen Brooksby works in HMV. She was most befuddled.  

Games People Play

We in the house have recently discovered the mighty awesomeness that is the Tell Me Quiz! The idea is that players have to name something that belongs in a particular category and begins with a certain letter. For example:

Tell me something you wear on your head beginning with F.

'Fedora' would be an acceptable answer; 'Fop Hat' definitely would not, PETE.

We have also been playing the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? game, which is fantastic also. It's even more fantastic - and tense - when played with all the appropriate music and soundbites. I'm not great at it though.

I'm also not great at No Mercy so I'm actually practicing in between writing the blog. Tom beat me twice the other day, and he'd never even played it before. Fuck's sake.

Joel.

Sharments II

The Re-Sharmenting.

RECENT THINGS

• Sunday was Halloween. We had a small gathering here to celebrate, and much Halloweeny music was listened to. If any trick-or-treaters did come to the house, I didn't hear about it.
• Friday was not Halloween but Josh and Rich and Elusive Dave had a Halloween party anyway. I went as a slightly cheap Freddy Krueger, and Sarah was the Grim Reaper. Josh wasn't anything in particular, he just wore spandex. Herbie and Mark were, between them, Team Rocket, although they were minus Meowth. I'm not sure what Soph was, some sort of evil prostitute possibly. Tom was a banana.
• Speaking of Tom, Tom has a tattoo now. Unless his parents are reading this, in which case Tom has not got a tattoo now.
• I paid the water bill last night, mostly because Dwr Cymru were threatening legal action if we didn't. It cost me about £300, so everyone in the house now owes me sixty pounds! Except Cliffey, who has already paid, and Sarah and Alex, who get to not pay bills because they pay in love.
• Many of the people affiliated with the house went to Oceana on Monday night. Nobody's quite sure what happened, but we do know that Cliffey, Soph and Tom spent yesterday on Cliffey's bed, laughing. Unless Tom's parents are reading this, in which case it was just Soph and Cliffey because Tom was in work.
• It's November, which of course mean it's Movember (or Novembeard if you prefer). I will be hoping to improve on last year's pitiful peachfuzz, but Cliffey, Josh, JR, Mark, Pete (I think) and others are all likely to do far better than me.
• I briefly became part of a folk three-piece yesterday, playing the bongos along with René (guitar/vox) and Calum (violin) from my uni ensemble. We played down in the foyer (or 'street') around lunchtime, belting out some folk songs and also a couple of Irish jigs, because Calum is just an awesome fiddle player. Then last night I showed off my bongo-playing skills to my awed housemates, and we obviously sang Creep, our house's national anthem. 
• The national anthem of the Josh/Rich/Elusive Dave household is Live & Let Die because we had a conversation about it there once. Should it be the Macca version or the Guns 'N' Roses cover? Cast your votes now.
• My brother Nathan came 'round on Friday night for a game of Risk with myself and Cliffey. I won in TWO TURNS, because I'm AWESOME. We filled the remaining time by playing Worms, at which I still rock although I think Tom won on Friday night.
• I hit The Record Shop on Saturday and got five CDs for a pound each. They were: Kid Carpet's Ideas and Oh Dears; My Computer's No CV; Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell; Destiny's Child's Survivor; and Bloc Party's Bloc Party (for Sarah, I obviously already have that record, obviously). I love The Record Shop, everybody go there on Thursdays to Saturdays.
• You know another awesome shop? Wally's Delicatessen. Sarah and I went there on Sunday; I bought a small pot of olives from the olive pick 'n' mix (also featuring stuffed peppers!) and she bought a huge box of Nerds (remember those?) which we're still picking away at.
• Mark, Josh and I are going to see Titus Andronicus in Bristol this month, but not before Sarah, Josh and I go to see LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip at the CIA.
• Soph got a WoMan point for carving the pumpkins on Friday night, but although there are a lot of pending Man Points they will have to wait until I get a new marker. Pete used the last one up by drawing on his face.

That italics guy from yesterday was sure a dick, wasn't he?

Joel.

Two Sevens In Bus Limbo

It's been a few days since I last updated, for no particular reason other than laziness. So sorry about that, this one will definitely be worth the wait. Well, maybe.

On Wednesday night went to see The Social Network, a week later than anticipated. I was the first to arrive at the cinema, and the queue was out the door and 'round the corner. It looked like we would once again have to postpone our viewing pleasure thanks to loads and loads of people arriving before us.

But wait! There was another showing an hour later. So, in lieu of making the long hard trudge to the Vue, we wandered 'round town for a spell - accidentally stumbling upon the new HMV in St. David's 2 - before returning for the 9.45 showing.

I thought the film was very good indeed, and so did Pete. Soph said she liked it too, but Cliffey was somewhat indifferent, and Tom didn't like it at all. I'm not sure of Alex's opinion, but if he's reading this, Al, do write in to let us know.

The film didn't finish 'til past midnight, and as Alex's car already had five people to fill it, I nobly volunteered to walk back. It wasn't much of a sacrifice to be honest; I rather enjoyed the walk, soundtracked as it was by the second half of Tom Waits' Rain Dogs album.

Upon my return I played a whole lotta Worms with Cliffey. We even attempted a few of the multiplayer missions, with varying results (just don't mention girders around Cliffey for a while). At around 3am, Anna Sharp dropped by having been to town, but I was quite sleepy by this point so I turned in.

Yesterday was a bit of a cropping fail. I had intended to meet up with Meic and do some recording, but I hadn't written anything yet and besides, his computer was misbehaving so we took a rain check. I rang up my mum to ask if she and my brother (both on half term) were doing anything for lunch. Having arranged to meet them in the bay and proceed to Pearl of the Orient for their rather excellent set lunch menu, I headed for the bus stop.

Well, I got into town okay. I was to meet my family at the Millennium Centre, and, like the fool I am, I got on a no. 9 bus to the bay.

Except not quite. The number 9 goes to the sports village, where the swimming pool and ice rink and Morrisons and Toys 'R' Us are. I thought it would go via the Mermaid Quay area, but alas, it just went straight there.

So I spent an hour stranded outside Morrisons, waiting for a bus (the number 7) that would take me to Pearl of the Orient. Two of them fell off the board (CAAAARDIFF BUUUUUS!) and I ended up arriving at the restaurant about an hour and a half later than I had hoped.

On the plus side, I got to spend some time in the bit around the sports village, which was quite nice. Also, it gave me time to write some lyrics and I now have something to record when I do eventually see Meic (it's about fast food). Also also, the Chinese still make delicious food, even when you do arrive late.

Tonight, my brother is coming 'round to play Risk and steal my fish fingers, and then it's Josh and Rich and Elusive Dave's Halloween party. I don't have a costume yet. I should probably buy one.

Joel.

P.S. Sarah has a very bad cold at the moment, everyone please send out lots of get well thoughts.

P.P.S. Tomorrow's update - and at my current rate it may not go up until next week - will be post no. 50, so expect something special, possibly.

Au Revoir JR

The Core Eight is no more. JR has gone to university. What will we do without him?

We're all devastated, of course, but I think the most upset is Soph. She'd never admit it, of course, but I think she's going to miss pestering him in the mornings, when he's crashed out on the airbed and she wants to watch TV.

We had a send-off gathering for him last night. It was less riotous than DanGuy's leaving do, but, unlike DanGuy's departure, there was no cause for celebration here. At one point, Cliffey actually burst into tears, and Alex had to do his special dance to cheer him up*.

This morning, JR, Cliffey and I had one last game of Risk to see JR on his way - Cliffey won, the bastard - and we waved our friend off with tears in our eyes. I don't think he's actually left Cardiff yet, but I'm fairly sure that'll be the last we see of him for a while.

So our Core Eight is down to Seven. There's some controversy as to whether we should leave it like that, or draft someone in to replace JR. Of course, no one could replace blah blah blah, but I reckon if anyone is going to get us back to eight (and somebody probably should, or the next Goldeneye tournament won't work at all) it'll probably be Tom. He's been 'round a lot recently anyway, and he and Cliffey seem to be getting on well, what with all the Fifa and such, so he seems the obvious choice. But he will have to see off strong competition from the likes of Anna Sharp, who hasn't been 'round that much but does seem to fit right in around here; and Josh Price, who holds the considerable advantage of having the same name as his predecessor.

Maybe we'll have auditions.

Joel.

P.S. I feel I ought to also mention that there was a bit of a bomb scare today. I met Sarah for lunch outside Coleg Glan Hafren, and she'd just gotten off the phone to her friend Emily. Emily had apparently been in hysterics, telling Sarah to get out of Cardiff because there was a bomb at the prison. This worried me, because I was supposed to be in uni in the afternoon, and the Atrium is right next door to the prison. But after consulting uni websites and news outlets, and calling our friends and family from Wetherspoon's and asking them to do likewise, we concluded that it was all safe. And it was - I got through my afternoon lecture un-blown up. So where Emily got her facts from I have no idea.

*Not really.