Carol Hynson - Blog - anything and everything

"We've been very arrogant in assuming that there's this sharp line dividing us from the rest of the animal kingdom, and we need to realise that we are not the only beings on this planet with personalities, minds, and above all, feelings and emotions. We need to be a little more respectful."

Jane Goodall


"We've been to a lot of concerts and rarely have they ended too early but man have some of them gone on too long. Some of them even forced us to go home early and reconsider our relationship with the band." from It's Just A Date! by Greg Behrendt and Amiira Ruotola-Behrendt

"When you're playing a tennis match, you can't say, "Stop, I want to do another take," or "Can I play that over?" That's the way sports are. They're very real that way. So they teach you lessons in life, but the most important one is accepting responsibility. You have to make a decision, live with the consequence."
Billie Jean King

"A woman glances at a cosmetics counter. The saleswoman begins giving her friendly advice and soon is applying sample cosmetic products to the customer's face. Wiping a piece of cotton soaked with expensive liquid across the customer's forehead, the saleswoman triumphantly sticks the cotton in front of the customer's eyes: "And you thought your face was clean! Look at that!" Since it's 6 p.m. in a dirty city, the customer had no reason to think her face was clean. ...[but] having agreed that her face is dirtier than she thought, and that the woman who uses the product has very soft skin, the customer is channelled into a line of reasoning that leads to the logical conclusion of buying the product."
Deborah Tannen in that's not what I meant! on the insidious nature of the soft-sell

"Nobody needs a life coach; we all need a life."
Jeanette Winterson from The Times Book supplement

"It's one of the dumbest prejudices anyone can have since you'll inevidably end up being the thing you despise."
from The Times Saturday supplement Body & Soul, talking about ageism and people's attitudes towards ageing.

"Visiting Australia, I heard a news item in which an educational survey had found modern Oz children the most illiterate and stupid ever. In Britain such a report would have provoked weeks of self-flagellating fury: Australia shrugged and headed for the beach."
Janice Turner, Times columnist (my comment: and you wonder why I'd rather be here than there???)

"I've met hundreds of English people – they know I'm Australian as soon as I speak – and the only thing they know about Australia is the weather. They say, "Don't you miss the wonderful weather?" But they don't ask other questions unless they've been to Australia, or they've got a relative there, when they'll say, "Perhaps you've met my relative. She lives in New Zealand." New Zealand is fifteen hundred miles away from Sydney."

Dorothy Rowe in Friends & Enemies, reflecting on an experience I've had many times myself!

"There are people who base their lives on the principle that if anyone offends them they never speak to that person again. They should be pitied, not feared, because they end up very lonely."
Dorothy Rowe's Guide To Life

"The question "Where are all the hotties?" has been plaguing me for a while. My friends and I had a theory that they were all in Australia. This was sadly proved wrong when, about three weeks into her foray there, I received a slightly woeful text saying definitely not."
A female guest columnist in thelondonpaper discovers Australian men

"One of the saddest, hardest things that we have to do is accept that those people who in an ideal world would have loved us bountifully simply because we existed are limited by their own sense of being unloved and by their jealousy, envy and hate — to the extent that they are unable even to know what generosity and compassion are, much less to exhibit them.
Dorothy Rowe in Friends and Enemies

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Friday, April 17, 2009

Since coming back from Australia, I've been quite bemused by the careful mispronounciation of "Melbourne" by my English friends. Thinking about it, I realise that it's another one of those quirky placenames that only a local would know how to pronounce - any Australian has been brought up saying and hearing the name of the southern capital as "Melbun." Undoubtedly the original pronounciation was the more elegant "—bourne," but it's been lost somewhere along the way and the shorterned, simplified version has taken its place.

Speaking of Australian cities, during my trip back I had done something very touristy, and visited the The Museum Of Sydney. As I had never studied any history beyond primary school, I was looking forward to understanding a little of the founding of this city I grew up in, and the characters who had helped shape it. It was certainly a fascinating few hours, and I DID finally discover the answer to something that had intrigued me for years.

Though most towns in England feature a "High Street" and the townships (now suburbs) of Sydney were modelled on those of the homeland of her settlers, the main street was likely to have any old name... so it was clearly one tradition which hadn't been exported - or so I thought! However, there on a very early map of the Sydney settlement was the main road, labeled High Street, and it was then I figured it out. That street is now named George Street, and I will bet that it was renamed in honour of the then reigning monarch - mystery solved.

Friday, April 9, 2009

I'm home in time for Easter, which is great for three reasons - time to get over my jetlag, get used to the time difference, and get over the cold which has abruptly descended on me without any warning.

And there's a fourth great reason - GIGS!!!

Thursday, March 25, 2009

It's not that I'm an Internet junkie (despite what some friends may think!), it's just that I'm so used to having that wealth of information right at my fingertips. Having to rely on Internet cafes for that brief, intense hour

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

It's taken a couple of months' worth of spare time (not that it took so long in itself, it's just that spare time is at a premium!), but here it is - Bas Mollenkramer's lovingly constructed Quatermass site has been given over to me for safekeeping. After a bit of a makeover for consistancy, a rearrangement of the pages and the addition of a navigation panel, here it is:

As always, if you have any additions or corrections, please don't hesitate to let me know - I'm sure Bas will be delighted to hear of any new information as well!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

It's very pleasant to be reunited with my Fender Jazz bass after quite some time, and to remember just how delightful it is to play.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Tonight's gig:

Megadeth at Wembley Arena

It's unbelieveable that I've seen these guys three times now in the UK, firstly at the now lost Astoria (alas!), the perfect venue for such an intense band, with the sound a physical pounding against our chests. But when I saw them at Brixton Academy last year, I found myself wishing for a bigger stage for them, something like Wembley Arena. And guess what? :-)

Though not headlining (perhaps next year, Dave?), the band delivered a perfectly crafted hour of classic Megadeth, from the self-engrossed petulant rant of In My Darkest Hour to the political vehemence of Symphony Of Destruction, Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? and Holy Wars... The Punishment Due - it was all there. Well, nearly — I could easily list another dozen or so tracks I would have liked to hear.

Being right down the front, I was surprised at how muted the sound was, compared with, say, the pulversing Astoria, so I loosened my right earplug to see what the unmoderated sound was like - only to have it pop out of my ear and disappear into the darkness when the swirling moshpit came lurching in our direction and set us all reeling! Seeing me on my knees in the darkness groping between everyone's feet trying to find the blasted thing, the girl in front asked me what was wrong, then kindly gave me a spare pair she happened to have! Situation saved.

Once the lights came up, a few minutes of frantic searching amongst crushed, discarded plastic cups and other less identifiable debris restored the missing earplug to its rightful place in my pocket, as I was actually going to NEED it for the second gig of the evening - Cry Wolf!

I bussed my way back to Brentford and caught the boys mid-first set, which was not bad going.

Monday, February 2, 2009

I found it difficult enough yesterday, trying to resecure the hubcap which had come loose during the trip to the gig the night before. It was so cold that my fingers went numb and the plastic cable ties instantly became so brittle that they kept breaking before I could even get them tightened up enough!

But that's nothing compared to today. The snow that began yesterday evening while I was at a gig (and had given me my first ever experience of driving in snow) had not abated overnight, and it was a fluffy white world I awoke to.

Bravely lacing up my most solid boots, I took a dustpan (closest thing I had to a hand shovel!) to the stairs outside my flat, clearing a path through inches of snow, another brand new experience for me, and then headed off down the road to the nearest tube station - on foot. I usually treat myself to a bus ride for this one, at least on a working day, though it's walkable, being well over a mile, but there ARE no buses today. The entire fleet is off the road. The trains have fared little better, which is something that hasn't filtered through to everyone - I can see a few hardy souls standing hopefully on the platform as I head off. One every two hours is apparently today's timetable. According to the internet, my tube line is apparently running, so off I go... only to be turned back at the station itself! No services on The Piccadilly line, despite what the tfl website said.

Ah well, I tried.


How's this for a contrast - August 2008... and today.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Tonight's gig:

Raw Glory at The Windsor Castle, Carshalton

A hot gig at my favourite venue on a freezing cold night!

As well as all the usual suspects in the audience, we have (from left) Gerry, visiting all the way from Somerset; Cosmo (guitar); Mick (drums); Martin; Paul (pointing finger and vocals), and Ronnie (bass).

Great choice of gig, Martin, thanks for joining us!

(Damn! that car park was cold afterwards...!)

Raw Glory at The Windsor Castle, Carshalton

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Tonight's gig:

Cry Wolf at The Olde Swan, Burnham

We did it again! This year's Blackfoot Sue reunion, plus webmaster:

David Farmer, me, Eddie Golga, Tom Farmer, Alan Jones... the one and only Blackfoot Sue!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A sad day indeed... The Astoria is finally giving way to the Crossrail project, and it's going out with a whimper, rather than a bang. The final night has been brought forward to today, forcing the cancellation of a massive sendoff gig the following night. It's the end of an era, and even I will miss it, having seen a few gigs there over the last couple of years, including the incomparable Megadeth. Just to mark its passing in my own way, I take a walk down there in my lunchbreak. Covered in scaffolding and surrounded by construction work, it's a diminished shadow of its former self.

In the same way, the British high street is irrevocably changing... the once mighty Virgin Megastore on the corner of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road(-ish!) is now a disposal store in the wake of the collapse of Woolworths, having been cleverly and presciently unloaded by Richard Branson to become Zavvi well before the bite of the credit crunch. It was sobering indeed to walk through the store and see the once comprehensive stock reduced to thoroughly picked through piles of the musical equivalent of "tat", the shelves steadily emptying of everything worthwhile... much the same as I've seen in far too many stores over the last couple of weeks. Unprecedented sales, starting even before Christmas. Some chains truly reduced everything in their stores, but others have used it as an excuse to empty their storerooms and warehouses of the almost unsaleable. Almost... as there always seems to be somebody, somewhere, willing to buy up every last thing... up to and including the shopfittings in Woolworths.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

A busy afternoon/evening indeed, with not one but two gigs...

Firstly with the Good Ol' Boys, doing an unplanned (and very welcome!) dep at short notice in Isleworth, and then the hybrid Netherwolf (Netherworld/Cry Wolf) and their fancy new lightshow at The Dog and Patridge in Staines... what a way to end off the weekend!


	Me on New Year's Eve... Bring on the new year!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

I have been given custody of the website of one of my very favourite bands... I shall treasure and nurture it and launch it very soon, just as soon as I give it a slight make-over!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

EYE CANDY night two!

The Prog Rock Fest continues on BBC4 tonight. Has anyone ever noticed how much Noel Fielding resembles Keith Emerson...?

Friday, January 2, 2009

A great night in, with my ultimate favourite genre of music, Prog Rock. Good ol' BBC4!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

I do so love a three day weekend, but even that delight must come to an end. At least it's a gentle let-down, with the early evening jam at The Red Lion in Twickenham, and some great performances as always!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Off to North Wembley for me... Costumiers to the film and television industry Angels are having a "vintage" clothing sale. A tenner at the door buys the smallest of three sizes of plastic bag, which you stuff full of whatever takes your fancy from within hundreds of cardboard boxes containing genuine period clothing, accessories, costumes, and enough military uniforms to stage a minor war... thousands of people must have passed through those doors, so just like me they'll now be wearing gear with a BBC label alongside the more ordinary manufacturer's one!

Sunday, November 30, 2008

That's four gig nights in a row for me, with a double-header tonight - Netherworld in the early evening, home for a quick change of socks for my poor cold feet, and then on off to Cry Wolf at one of our great local traditions, The Six Bells for the last Sunday of the month.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Tonight's gig: Red Rocket at The Red Lion, Twickenham

This was a delight, with a set composed mainly of songs I've rarely or never heard live - Cheap trick, anyone?! - though interspersed with a few hoary old chestnuts - the inevidable Highway To Hell. And a rousing cheer for not one, but two women on bass - regular player Sonia, and guest on Vertigo Sarah!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Tonight's gig: Replicant at The Red Lion, Twickenham

This was a killer of a decision. if there's one gig we want to go and see, there's usually two, but tonight there were no less than FOUR choices... what was I saying two weeks back? It was a tough call, but it was a cold night after all, and the shortest journey won. :-). Are we fickle and shallow? No. It was a chance to see a band I hadn't yet seen... that's my story, and I'm sticking to it! (to parapharse Alan Barrett, whom I must go and see again soon!!!!!)

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Tonight's gig: Opeth at Shepherds Bush Empire

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

There's way too much going on for me to keep up with writing about it!

Passing through Green Park station enroute from the Jubilee line to the Piccadilly line, I am always delighted by the subtlety of the way the mozaic pattern on the wall changes as you walk along - both the grey of the Jubliee and the dark blue of the Piccadilly line are intermingled amongst the white, with the grey lessening and the number of blue tiles gradually increasing as the Piccadilly line gets closer. Since I'm often doing this transfer quite late at night as I head home from one of many venues on the "other side" of town, it's a nice little wake-up for my tired brain.

It was rather interesting being in a room filled predominantly with Australians - that hasn't happened since I was in, gasp, Australia - it was remarkable how many different accents there were and how my brain registered them as exactly that - an accent. Spooky! Watching television now, having gotten home, I realise that I am NOT hearing a lot of the English "accents" - they sound perfectly unaccented to my well-adapted Anglophile brain.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Another one of my periodic midweek indulgences, another of my revered Rock Gods tonight - yes, it's the gifted Pete French fronting the legendary Leaf Hound at the equally legendary Eel Pie Club - superb.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Having remembered The Sheep Look Up (October 15), I went hunting in the local library for any other John Brunner books, and am now reacquainting myself with Stand On Zanzibar. It so drips with quotable quotes that it's superfluous to put any here. However, better to quote Joe Haldeman (himself one of the most gifted writers of his generation): "Brunner was an angry man, angry at injustice and cynicism, and this novel was meant to be a wake-up call to the world. Brunner's nightmare is crystallizing around us, in ways he could not have foreseen then (1968). If the right people had read this book, and acted in accordance with its spirit, our world would not be in such precarious shape today."

Saturday, November 8, 2008

I feel a certain despair at the state of the live music scene. There are so many talented musicians out there, and despite our collective fears, there doesn't seem to be any lessening of the number of venues available for them to play in... Rather, it's the lack of an audience that's the killer. Even in the five years since I starting coming over here I've noticed a steady decline in the number of people attending gigs - bands seem to need to produce not only a stage act but their very own rent-a-crowd, or else many venues just won't book them as they can't guarantee enough locals on hand to keep the bar busy enough to pay the band!

The exceptions are, or course, those few venues on the circuit with a reputation for great music, and a strong local following and appreciation for it. Naturally bands are desperate to get onto their roster, since they are guaranteed a heaving ready-made audience, but there's only a handful left now. Bands are known to carefully identify who else is playing in the vicinity on the same night who may be drawing some of their precious audience away - yes, it's that competitive.

A punter like me is spoiled for choice, there are so many gigs to choose from. In fact, it can be extremely difficult to try and decide which one to go to on any given night - this, and many other deeply philosophical ponderings occupied our post-gig conversation until almost 3am, at which point I decided I really ought to go home and get some sleep!

Friday, November 7, 2008

I Know You're Married, But I Have Feelings Too

This is one of the best album titles I've seen in years... mind you, I haven't actually listened to it, let alone the title track (is there one?) and I have to admit I'm somewhat frightened to do so, in case it's not actually as biting as it really ought to be! It's one of those cases where I'd rather let my imagination supply the detail.

Monday, November 3, 2008

After a busy but extremely rare weekend - one WITHOUT any gigs, I have a Monday night to well and truly make up for it...

It's a rainy night in Camden Town, and my first time ever in The World's End pub, which I like at once - it's as elegant and old world on the inside as the classic old-fashioned exterior with its big gold letters promise. I shelter in the warmth there until the venue downstairs opens, and then its on to my first gig ever at the (in)famous Camden Underworld. I've heard so much about it, and known so many big bands have performed there, that it's a surprise to find it to be so much smaller than I imagined.

I'm here, of course, to see Kip Winger, once again performing an acoustic set of some of the highlights of his career. He happily deviates from his set list, asking us what we'd like to hear, and I'm absolutely delighted when he readily launches into, and carries off, Blind Revolution Mad, one of my very favourite tracks, despite cautioning us he hasn't played it for some time.

Listening to him, I'm convinced there isn't a single track from his repertoire he couldn't pull off as a solo acoustic version, (should I have shouted for State Of Emergency...?!), though admittedly some of the heavier tracks of course would need the full band to do them justice. Co-incidentally, he has assistance on vocals tonight, as there are some fabulous singers in the audience - though the crowd is not huge, EVERYBODY seems to know all the songs, and sing along perfectly - one fellow even gets drawn up on stage to perform harmony vocals - brilliant!

To our insistent requests, Kip confirms that he will, at last bring the full band over to England some time between February and April. Something to truly look forward to, and my second treat for next year, because Megadeth are also due back over around then... and playing Wembley Arena as well, which is EXACTLY the venue I wanted to see them at! 2009 is already shaping up to be a good one.

The support act prior to Kip was a talented guy who performs solo as "The Maker Band". He records his performance one instrument or vocal effect at a time on the spot, immediately replaying it as a looping sequence, building up a unique layer of sound for each song... incredibly entertaining.

Check him out: The Maker Band on MySpace.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

At least I can say I've been...

The Westfield conglomerate has followed me to the UK, and have crafted what is supposedly the biggest shopping centre in something or other... ...in the UK, or the south, or some portion of Europe, or something like that. However, it is neither as big as Parramatta Westfield (to the west of Sydney), nor has as many shops. ("You call this a shopping centre? THAT'S a shopping centre!" ;-p)

I've done the lot in less than two hours, spent very little (a quick trip to the M&S bakery!), and then I cleverly retreat to nearby Hammersmith just as the crowds REALLY start to thicken up, bypassing all of the traffic snarls and the ridiculous queues (an hour wait to get into an eatery????) and find the former local shopping mecca largely deserted - the entire bank of registers at the front of the massive Primark store are closed down! There are no queues for the changing rooms! There are heaps of seats in Pret! I celebrate with a croissant and a peculiar carbonated drink which is made supposedly from dandelions but which is rather more like a cross between liquid liquorice and a funny old cough remedy my parents fed me many years ago... won't have that flavour again.

Been there, done that, off home to play some more bass :-)

Friday, October 31, 2008

Local folklore has it that Jimi Hendrix' first gig, after stepping off the plane at Heathrow, was The Duke Of Cambridge pub in Hounslow, right alongside the bus garage.

Every time I walk past, I have to wonder - just exactly how did he end up here...? It's not THAT close to Heathrow. Did he hop a bus at random and get off at the bus garage, only to wind up at the nearest pub? Did he catch the tube and alight at Hounslow East for no apparent reason, walking down the road until he came to the first pub he saw...? Did a local cab driver take him there? Why? Perhaps it was way more hip all those years ago than it is now...

Friday, October 24, 2008

I love this time of year. As the nights draw in, there's the crackle of fireworks on the air, and sudden flashes and showers of light in the night sky. It was long ago in Australia when "Cracker Night" was unequivocally banned, as was the selling of fireworks, as the Nanny State decreed that Australians were far too stupid and clumsy and irresponsible to handle these dangerous things themselves. Thus Sydney, at least, became the epicentre of the public fireworks display, where families obediently traipse off to the nearest large public park in order to watch other people put together a pyrotechnics display... and never know the fun and joy of playing with fire themselves. But not here. Once those fireworks stores open in October, it's on! Bonfires flickering away in backyards and lanes and roads, bursts of gaudy bright colours lighting up the night sky, whistling and clattering their way towards the heavens... I can't help but walk around with a big smile on my face!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

It's been a long time since I've gone for a browse in the fiction section of the library. It seems so difficult to find something I'll genuinely enjoy, when most recent writing is so formulaic and predictable, so I generally don't bother. However, I'm very much enjoying Shake! by Yvonne Roberts. Of all things, I picked it up because of the font of the title, which I happen to know is called Bottleneck and was created in 1972, only to find out it was a novel set in the sixties and the font was supposedly evoking the "feel" of those days... but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Glad I did!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Sheep Look Up

Reading the world headlines as the extent of the Chinese melamine poisoning unfolds ever further, I can't help but be reminded of the chillingly prophetic novel by John Brunner, The Sheep Look Up. Published in 1972 (there's that year again), and considered to be a extreme dystopian view of the future, it has begun to ring scarily true.

Check out the Wikipaedia entry for details: The Sheep Look Up

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Clear spells and glimpses of the moon...

Sounding remarkably like the title of a Blackmore's Night album, this is, in fact, tonight's weather forecast, courtesy of one of the free evening papers. Reading them smooths what is usually an overly crowded tube trip home, peppered with the occasional gem which brings a smile to my face. One such moment was on the very same page, the photo of the "plucky rodent" who had been, according to the article, thrown into a snake pen at Taiwan Zoo, only to turn the tables on the unfortunate serpent intending to eat it for dinner... As an Australian I can't help but applaud the underdog, even as I fear for its ultimate fate.

Some afternoons after work I'm a little lazy and walk to the nearer of the two tube stations by my office; this one is quieter than the other one, and I often catch a glimpse of our very own plucky rodents, the little dark mice with the kinked tails who run around under the rails between the tubes which come thundering down the line. Last night I watched with delighted fascination as one tackled an abandoned crisp packet with great determination, circling round and round to find the opening and ultimately grabbing hold of it in its teeth and galloping off down along the track!

And sure enough, there it was through my skylight tonight, a majestic half moon, floating brightly through the sky.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Reading: Classic Rock Magazine
Good to see the mag return to form after a lull lasting a few months. While compiling Top 20/50/100 lists is undoubtedly fun, and guaranteed to sell magazines, stir up controversy and indignant responses ("How dare you leave out my beloved band _____(fill in the blank)!!!"), for a lot of people like me such a list has little more than curiousity value - we like what we like, and some of it is so rare and unknown it's simply not going to appear. In any list but mine. Ever. The editors themselves have conceeded the targeted appeal of these lists and gone back to a full magazine of well-researched articles on bands from all eras, locations and (relevant) genres, as well as amusing asides such as the timely rant about "fashionistas (who) insist on hijacking our favourite rock t-shirts".

This latter point has been bugging me for quite a while, ever since a large number of high street fashion chains have recognised the appeal of the "rock chick" look... Anonymous rock style artwork is okay, though the instruments displayed therein need to be authentic and/or accurate (as far as I'm concerned!); pseudo-tour shirts are not, and the article gives a perfect example of a young girl wearing a "Led Zeppelin - US Tour 1975" T-shirt, when she couldn't possibly have been there, or even less forgiveably, clearly had never even listened the band (as evidenced by the drum-and-bass leaking out of her surgically attached pink iPod nano). "She was - like the thousands of other rock atheists across the planet - simply wearing a band t-shirt to convey what GMTV makeover stylists like to describe as "attitude"."

I hasten to add that, just as the article points out, women are not the only targets, and clothing stores not the only culprits - seeing a BEATLES T-shirt in a music store just blew my mind. To those of us to whom music matters, we are wearing your beloved proudly upon your torso, and it's a message to the world - a message diluted by every single inauthentic item out there.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Tonight's gig:

Cry Wolf at The Surbiton Flyer, Surbiton

Friday, September 19, 2008

Tonight's gig:

	Nickelback The O2 London

What a great concert. I could go totally overboard with superlatives, but it was seriously one of the best I've ever been to.

I often have mixed feelings about a band playing the songs they are most well known for - as mentioned previously, much as I love Deep Purple, I really don't need to hear Stroke On The Daughter again; likewise, I was delighted when Metallica didn't play Enter Sandman on Monday night (though they did finish with probably my favourite track, Seek And Destroy).

But with Nickelback, I just had to hear How You Remind Me... and that opening chord brought tears to my eyes.

The set was a perfect mix of old and new, all rolled together by the patter of grinning self-confessed and utterly unapologetic Canuck redneck Chad Kroeger. The saving grace perhaps is that he really doesn't take himself too seriously, and his superficial playful vulgarity is offset by the emotional depth and soul-searching honesty of songs such as If Everyone Cared and Some Day. To cap it off, during the obligatory cannon-firing into the audience (yes, really!), the band launched into Pantera's Cowboys From Hell, closely followed by none other than the aforementioned Seek And Destroy... loved it!! As was said to me very recently of their latest album: "So perfect, it's scary."

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Tonight:

Not music, but anime...

My dear friend Helen is curating this exhibition. After two long years of organisation, the opening event was last night, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

	Osamu Tezuka: Movies into Manga The Barbican London

It wasn't intended to be that late a night, that is until the signaller at Acton Town got himself all mixed up. Our tube waited and waited and waited outside the station and then, to add insult to injury, got routed onto the wrong branch! We all piled off at Ealing Common and then got back on another going back the other way, then got held up at Acton Town yet again while he let the empty train on the other platform go on ahead of us and THEN channeled it off into a siding while we waited at a red signal behind it... What fun at midnight with a full workday ahead of me AND Nickelback to follow in the evening!!

At least our tube driver took pity on us and explained what was going on, sounding both embarassed and amused at his colleague's mistakes - it does help to know, rather than be sitting wondering.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Tonight's gig:

Metallica at The O2, London

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Tonight's gig:

	Raw Glory The Cardinal Wolsey Hampton Court Road, East Molesey, Surrey

The afternoon's photoshoot went well: check the Raw Glory gallery for highlights.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Tonight's gig:

Cry Wolf at The Three Mariners, Bagshot

Not only are low ceilings a feature of this pub, it is utterly unique in that the band are situated on a floor lower than that of the rest of the pub! Having said that, for those of us right up the front, both the view and the sound quality were great. Neat to see depping drummer Smash in David's place.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

The world didn't end this morning

Experimental particle physics has been delivered to the masses as Big Bang Day, and perhaps that's not a bad thing in terms of moving war, house prices, petrol prices, and mindless celebrity gossip from the headlines - for a day or so, at least.

To someone who does not play an instrument, I think I would be powerless to convey the joy of having a bass in my hands again - and such a beautiful one as well. But to those who know what I'm talking about - well, you just know. :-)

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

What goes on behind the shop shutters after hours...

Well, in our case, adjacent to a busy main road, with buses and cars passing by and the footfalls and chatter of people walking past all unknowing, there we were tucking in to a birthday feast prepared by my landlord (and master chef) Sam for a lovely local lady, Jean, 86 today. The huge platter of vegies even included tomatoes, squash and beans from our very own rooftop garden! As we finished off our meal to a shot of Scotch whiskey mixed in with Old Jamaican ginger beer (I stuck to lemonade!), we all agreed it had been a fun evening. What a fascinating window on life in England to hear how it used to be!

Many happy returns Jean.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Tonight's gig:

Cry Wolf at The Windmill, Wallington

Driving to gigs with my mp3 player set to Random Playback, it's always interesting to guess what's going to come up. This particular song selection has not yet become stale (well, those songs that I've already tired of have been removed!), as it was put together during my recent trip back to Australia, and there are still songs I haven't yet heard popping up.

However, things went a bit grim when I got just past Kingston, when a Gary Moore track started skipping as if it was a glitchy CD, but then it was okay until Carshalton - trying to second-guess the player, I willed, "Winger" and so it was, with State Of Emergency, an old favourite from way back, but then... a ringing silence. Glancing at the mp3 player revealed the dreaded words "disk error", and there was no escaping it. I was doomed to a trip home in silence. Luckily I had the band to distract me beforehand! Lovely to have the full band back together, and as an added bonus, the change in setlist over the preceeding few weekends has brought a gem back into the set - Crazy Horses.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Tonight's gig:

Cry Wolf at The Globe Inn, Brentford

...our first night back at a very familiar and much loved venue, now with a new publican, and a definite change for the better with all of the furniture cleared out of the way between the bar and the band. So wonderful to see Eddie Golga and his wife Lynn, and catch up with some more delightful memories of the Brentford/Hounslow days of Blackfoot Sue.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Tonight's gig:

MRG at The Rose & Crown, Isleworth

Monday, September 1, 2008

Dear Vaunda,
You left us way too soon. The world is a diminished place without you. I miss you terribly.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Exactly five years to the day since this adventure began, fittingly I'm at the very same pub where I first met the band. Such a lot has happened since then...

Tonight's gig:

Cry Wolf at The Six Bells, Brentford

...not the least of which has been the smoking ban! That, combined with the amazing adaption of my Australian metabolism to local conditions, has meant that gig-going has become far more comfortable.

Sweet familiarity has not bred contempt, either, as the band were able to bring something new to their performance tonight: Pars Evrenos on bass (for Black Night), and David on lead vocals for Whole Lotta Love!

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Tonight's gig:

The Mick Taylor Band at The Boom Boom Club, West Sutton

Not being an affectionado of the Rolling Stones, I really didn't know what to expect tonight, but the presence of one of Cozy Powell's frequent collaborators (Max Middleton on keyboards), combined with a venue I very much enjoy, was enough to convince me to head on along.

And I was glad I did - though I recognised not a single song, Max's sound and style was instantly familiar to me, and the rest of the band were individually and collectively just as polished. An uplifting evening with great musicians and good company to boot.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Parking Wars are over... for the time being, anyway

The whole thing began a few months back, when the guys who worked in the restaurant next door parked my car in, so then my landlady parked them in!

A trivial game, perhaps, until they wanted to leave, sparking four hours of angst, with much swearing, yelling and thumping from the laneway, and even, at one stage, trespass, when they apparently scaled the brick dividing wall between the two properties and came thumping on my front door - which I didn't answer, as I couldn't do anything anyway. They had parked ME in, after all. Well after I went to bed, she kindly went and let them out, reminding them that it was not actually a spare spot, but belonged to her property.

Revenge was had when they went and scratched her duco, and then they stuck to their own parking spots... for a few weeks, at least.

It all kicked off again three weeks ago - coming home from a very late gig at The Rising Sun, I found one of their vehicles in my spot. Too tired to care, I simply parked it in and went straight to bed. The next day I went out - by public transport, figuring that they would eventually have to come and say something. When I came home, it was still there, just as before... or so I thought. Then my landlord told me that they had somehow managed to manouver the people-carrier out between my car and the van next to it, and had promptly gone out, done their business, and managed to squeeze it back in again! Getting it out was impressive, but putting it back in when there were spaces elsewhere was being a little bit too clever, as far as I was concerned. So I went and moved my car so that this was no longer possible, and there we stayed, stalemate, for the rest of the week. Then a friend suggested I take a look at the van, to see if it had a tax disk... surely it did, I thought, but then I discovered that it didn't! More and more curious... I went and moved my car elsewhere after a few more days, but there was no sign of this apparently illegal van going anywhere, and we started to wonder if it had been dumped there!

To that end, my landlady decided to finally and reluctantly implement Plan B, having been considering signing up with a clamping company for some time - despite wanting to give people the benefit of the doubt, we were realising it was not going to work. So we all fixed the stickers to our windscreens, and waited. And then came a fateful phone call from upstairs - the people-carrier had been taken out, my landlady told me, best to grab my spot back now. So I did. And guess what? I was promptly parked in when they got back.

Curious, I went downstairs, not only to check the integrity of my duco, but also to see if a tax disk had miraculously appeared. Yes, it had, though it was not particularly well-fastened onto the windscreen, being attached merely by two straggling strips of sticky tape. Interestingly, the number plate written on it was even correct. My problem was that I needed to drive to a gig the next evening, and that vehicle was in my way. Voicing my concerns to my landlord, he told me not to worry, so I went off to work that day, not at all sure what I would see on my return.

And when I came home... there was no people-carrier in sight. Not blocking me in, nor even in their usual crowded spot behind the restaurant. Delighted, I went to talk to my landlord, and he told me that he had called the clampers that morning, who had promptly come and shackled up the offending van... its driver had then had to pay the appropriate fine to get his bomb back, and it was now parked well out of the way down a nearby side street, so Sam concluded.

Over the next few days I was able to come and go to gigs as I pleased, and none of the clever lads attempted to steal my spot, though one wagged his head at me disapprovingly one evening as I was heading out. Whatever.

But it wasn't quite all over. My landlady had been parking in a locked garage since her own paintwork was damaged, and I remained in fear of mine, but revenge was enacted in a very different way. On another late night return from a gig, I found the laneway strewn with plants and flowers torn out of the ground... Childishly, the fellows from the restaurant had gotten back at Sam by destroying just about all of the beautiful plants he had so lovingly cultivated throughout the spring and summer. Very sad.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Moving to the UK in order to be nearer to the music I love so much has created an unexpected paradox - I am separated by thousands of miles from my actual music collection, thoroughly boxed up and securely locked away in storage back in Sydney, and yet I am surrounded by, almost on a daily basis, those wonderful people who created those delicious sounds. Not only that, I also get to witness firsthand those very same people performing and totally immerse myself in the music, as well as talk with them about it... it seems a very small price to pay indeed!

Reading:
...about reading! I've been so busy every weekend recently that I've quite neglected keeping up with one of my favourite weekly reads, the Books section of the Saturday edition of The Times. But I'm well and truly making up for that now. Instead of relying on the lightweight free newspapers for my daily commute on the tube, I am now steadily working my way through my summer backlog, and not even in chronological order! Not only do I love finding out what is out there that I might be interested in, often I simply revel in the ability of the reviewers to succinctly reveal not only the substance of the book itself they are writing about, but some candid observation of life and society itself, as reflected by that book, all in a simple sentence or two, and sometimes even in a mere few words.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

There is nothing quite like the feel of having a Rickenbacker back in my hands again... :-)

I'm spending a little bit of time on MySpace at the moment, and I can't help wondering, are other people as irritated with the big-chinned, gum-chewing bloke on the webcam-style video advertisement as I am? Perhaps it's just that he's the same gormless, big-boned type as the students who used to give me so much grief at the university - twice my body-mass or more, I'd have a quiet word to them that they were using university computers for what was clearly non-university business... Most people would be a bit embarassed and move on, but these big boys apparently found me so much of a threat to their masculinity that they'd threaten to thump me... except that I was a woman, of course, so they told me. When I suggested that they have a go anyway, they'd mutter and demur and bluster and generally just go on and on... all a bit pointless really, as we could shut the PCs down by remote control anyway.

Those were the days! Australia, nah, don't miss it at all!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Listening to: Gary Moore...

...Dunluce, Blood Of Emeralds, and the very beautiful version of Sunset from the Live In Japan album. Played without drums, he had dedicated it at the time to Randy Rhodes, but to me, it's always to Cozy Powell, as the track had originally first appeared on Cozy's third solo album. And now it's for a dear friend as well...

No-one can quite evoke all the grief, mourning and longing involved in losing something so precious as a loved one, though for me, Gary Moore comes the closest. Driving home late last night, with my mp3 player as always on random, this was one of the songs which was so aptly selected... It's music, as always, which lifts me out of the sorrow I'm feeling.

Reading:
Quite apt, really... This is your Brain on Music, by Daniel Levitin, subtitled "Understanding An Obsession"

Tonight's gig:

The Good Old Boys at The Red Lion, Isleworth

...and what a great evening's entertainment it was too, at a very hot Red Lion! A lovely way to round off a long weekend.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Having not ventured into a sports store for some time, today I made the pilgrimage in search of a pair of shoes suitable for tennis. A simple task, you would think, but no. I had to do this since normal shoe stores don't seem to carry your basic "sandshoe" (as they are called in Australia - "plimsolls" perhaps, here?).

The prices bring me up short just to start with, but there are two other immensely irritating things as well. The first of these being the apparently unavoidable and overt branding on every single shoe, which goes right against my core beliefs. Any words I wear on my person are for something I personally endorse, whether a band I love or a particularly pithy saying — these obscenely rich manufacturing companies should be paying ME to wear their brand, not the other way around! Why is it that when playing sport, you HAVE to wear a brand on your clothing? Is this not the most clever marketing ruse around? You pay a fortune for something AND you do their advertising for them?

And the other thing is the overwhelming pinkness of everything in the women's department. I loathe pink so much I go and look in the men's department in sheer desperation, but my feet are too small to fit into any of those shoes... and so it's reluctantly back to Pastel Hell for me. If it's not pink then it's baby blue or lilac or some equally wimpy hue - why haven't the bright bold colours of normal clothing permeated the sports shoe market?

The shoes apparently for tennis (and it's hard to tell, but I suspect I'm meant to know by the style of tread) are all chunky and heavy to boot (no pun intended), something I've found just weighs me down on the court. In the end I go for a streamlined shoe more like a running shoe by one company I find less offensive than most, trimmed in green and navy, and that will have to do - I then escape out into the fresh air in search of something far more delightful, ice cream!

Tonight's gig:

	Cry Wolf Hare Hill Social Club Ledger Drive, Addlestone, Surrey 9pm start

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Tonight's gig:

Netherworld at Cobham Village Club, Cobham

Friday, August 22, 2008

Tonight's gig:

F2* at The Rising Sun, Slough

* Not their real name...

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Tonight's gig:

The Micky Moody Band at The Eel Pie Club, Twickenham

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Tonight's gig:

Cry Wolf at The Red Lion, Twickenham

Friday, August 15, 2008

Tonight's gig:

Raw Glory at The Red Lion, Twickenham

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

wma samples from the recent Raw Glory recording sessions are now available! See City Life.

There are new logos for Blackfoot and Spoilers and a revamp of the Blackfoot Sue timeline is occurring.

Monday, August 11, 2008

That was quite a weekend. Much of the fascinating material I'm reading was demonstrated in real life - or perhaps I'm just more aware of it now.

Reading:
Another Deborah Tannen, this time, Talking from 9 to 5, with the subtitle "Women and Men at work: language, sex and power"

But it's far more than simply about language... Tannen's insightful observations of both genders in the workplace lifts the lid on all the behaviours we simultaneously take for granted while being unconciously irritated and frustrated when other people don't operate exactly the same way we do... enlightment dawns!

Saturday, August 9, 2008	Sunday, August 10, 2008
Tonight's gig:	The view from my front door today

	Raw Glory The Coach & Horses 183 London Road, Isleworth, Middlesex 10pm start See you there!

Friday, August 8, 2008

Tonight's gig: a last minute dep, with Raw Glory stepping up to the breech at the Boom Boom Club in West Sutton when Ray Owen of Juicy Lucy was taken off to hospital and his band sadly had to cancel.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Reading:
that's not what I meant! by Deborah Tannen, a linguist who cuts to the very heart of the reasons for everyday misunderstandings within our attempts to communicate with one another.

The subtitle says it all: "how conversational style makes or breaks your relations with others"

This is a real eye-opener. To quote: "...the most significant outcome of knowing about conversational style is knowing itself: knowing that no one is crazy and no one is unkind and that a certain amount of misinterpretation and adjustment is normal in communication."

For my part, I've often been flummoxed, when talking in my customarily direct way to someone more accustomed to communicating in an indirect style, for them to be second-guessing my every statement and looking for a deeper meaning when there simply isn't one, with both of us becoming increasingly puzzled and frustrated at our apparent lack of understanding. This book explains such differences in style in such a straight-forward way you wonder why it wasn't obvious before - such is the author's gift.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Tonight's gig:

The Good Old Boys at The Eel Pie Club, Twickenham

With Pete off enjoying himself on holiday in France, the band was a four piece tonight, but dear Simon expertly carried the evening, even when lapsing into autopilot - Shaking All Over had an overly long ending as, he admitted, he "was waiting for the other guitarist to finish it off!"...also featuring, of course! - Nick Simper, Alan Barratt and Richard Hudson.

Good news: it will be the full 5-piece line-up at my local, The Red Lion in Isleworth, on August 25th!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Here she is! Meet Ritchie... isn't she beautiful?

Sunday, August 3, 2008

At long last! On a drizzly Sunday evening, I finally get to see the repeats of the final Dr Who episodes of the season which the BBC so thoughtlessly aired while I was away in Australia...

The genius of a show with such a long history, such a rich vein of creation and imagination to draw on, and the sheer artisty of bringing all the varied threads of this wide-reaching story together... wonderful. There's no other show like it. This 21st century "regeneration" could have gone badly wrong, but instead, it's been one of the most lovingly realised reinventions in television history.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Tonight's gig: Cry Wolf at probably my favourite venue on the local circuit, The Windsor Castle, Carshalton.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Tonight's gig:
Sometimes it's more about being seen than seeing the band.
Went to the The Cardinal Wolsey, East Molesey, and caught up with lots of friends and a load of the usual suspects! Also saw Raw Glory's singer Paul depping with a local pub band for the evening.

I am looking for a left-handed Rickenbacker 4001/4003 bass guitar... ...looks like I've got one! Thanks, Eddie! x

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Tonight's gig:

Choke On Chicken Quarter
Having been all prepared to be jaded by hearing that hoary old perennial Smoke On The Water, I was utterly delighted when Roger Glover really did pull out the old jetglo Rickenbacker just as he'd told me he did, purely for that song. I couldn't help wondering if he'd spared a fleeting thought for that brief conversation we'd had some months ago - probably not, but he made a Rickenbacker fan very, very happy.

	Deep Purple ExCel

Monday, July 28, 2008

"A light touch, a gentle caress, can convey all the meanings in the world: one moment it can be a word of consolation, an apology, a request to be groomed, an invitation to play; on another, an assertion of privilege, a demand you move elsewhere; on yet another, a calming influence, a declaration that intentions are friendly... In that brief moment of mutual understanding in a fast-moving, frenzied world, all social life is distilled in a single gesture." — Robin Dunbar

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Having been targeted more than once in my life by another's casual fabrication of the truth, and alas, once again not all that long ago, I quite liked this line by Primo Levi:

"...I think I can recognise in him the typical case of someone who, accustomed to lying publicly, ends by lying in private too, to himself, and building for himself a comforting truth which allows him to live in peace. To keep good faith and bad faith distinct costs a lot: it requires a decent sincerity or truthfulness with oneself, it demands a continuous intellectual and moral effort."

Tonight's gig: Cry Wolf at The Six Bells, Brentford

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Wandering up the street for my usual Saturday morning stroll, I spotted this wonderful example of sheer tenacity...

You have to wonder if this household is aware of any plumbing problems!

Tonight's gig:

	Cry Wolf The Surbiton Flyer 84 Victoria Road, Surbiton, Surrey

Friday, July 25, 2008
Tonight's gig: Mercenary Rock Gods at The Rose & Crown, Isleworth
Thursday, July 24, 2008
New artwork: the Raw Glory promo CD cover Tonight's gig: Alice Cooper at ExCel
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tonight's gig: The Pretty Things at The Eel Pie Club, Twickenham
Monday, July 21, 2008
The new Raw Glory gig poster is ready!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Reading:
Oliver James' latest, Affluenza. Like Dorothy Rowe, he seems to be one of the few people in the world able to deconstruct what's going on around us and manage to convey it back in immensely readable form: "Never have I read a book that so precisely captures the way we are being emotionally snookered by the demands of 21st-century living... read this book." is the front cover blurb.

To live is to feel. To go through life not feeling is to be not truly alive. What seems to have been lost along the way, as Dorothy Rowe frequently points out, is that there is no automatic guarantee of happiness. There is always pain as well. No decision has only one outcome... there is always good, and bad.

Realising these two things is a starting point for just getting out there and doing it. You may blunder, but you will learn... and you will feel ALIVE!

Tonight's gig: Cry Wolf at The Windmill, Wallington.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Tonight's gig: Cry Wolf at The Red Lion, Twickenham. Even more good friends, including the grand trio of comedians who had so enlivened the gig at Staines Riverside club two weekends previously. Picture Comfortably Numb performed as a mime... I have not laughed so hard in ages. Cheers Shannon, Gary and John!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Tonight's gig: Cry Wolf at The Cardinal Wolsey, East Molesey. Lots of good friends in attendance!

Thursday, July 17, 2008
Tonight should have been a Raw Glory gig at The Globe in Brentford, their first there with the new line-up, but alas, one of our very favourite local music venues is no more.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

I've revamped the Cry Wolf website.

Reading:
...and lots of it! A lovely summer pasttime, sprawling around with a good book. Just finished: Wrong About Japan by Peter Carey. Very nearly finished: The Successful Self by Dorothy Rowe.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Having been back from Australia a mere three weeks, I am finally beginning to catch up to myself.

Reading:
I have just read the most amazing book. Dorothy Rowe is an Australian who, like me, has recognised the strait-jacket which is Australian society, and has escaped to the other side of the world in order to live a life more comfortable and fulfilling, where we can be more true to ourselves.

Wanting Everything: The Art Of Happiness • Dorothy Rowe website

The evening's gig:

		Cry Wolf Egham United Services Club 111 Spring Rise, Egham, Surrey

Are we having fun yet?
The evening was a classic case of "What can go wrong will go wrong," but we had fun. The locals are lovely and warmly appreciated the band — deps, equipment problems, warts and all! David even won a prize in the obligatory raffle.

Listening to: Winger Live (2007).
Loved the dose of realism when one chorus of Seventeen was changed to "She's only thirty-five..."
Kip Winger is a gifted and vastly underrated songwriter.
Make your voice heard - want to see Winger live in London? I do! Eventful

More classic Winger: Headed For A Heartbreak (live on MTV) • Down Incognito

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Visited the mysterious and majestic Battersea Power Station in the afternoon.

In complete contrast, went off to Twickenham Stadium to see Iron Maiden later in the evening, then rushed off to catch Raw Glory's second set in East Molesey!