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November 18th, 2009
01:42 pm - Go with the money and the glory
Well it looks like Jenson Button is moving the McLaren.
Not a huge surprise really, although if they lose to Brawn next year I bet he’ll feel a right prune :)
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November 17th, 2009
09:19 am - Win some, lose some, it's all the same to me
I think it's Tuesday, Karen having yesterday off has left me a little out on days of the week :)
I did not sleep well last night, for which I blame the bottle of coke I had during band practice, then again I easily managed a night of no beer and also did at least manage some sleep without chemical assistance (I'm don't really like taking sleeping pills too often).
Today is a going to get busy at about lunch when I have pratice with singer songwriter girl at 1, followed by sorting tea and then practice with a covers band called the lego men.
Not going to see much of my lovely girl today but that's it for the week.
Tomorrow we have men coming round to fit a new front door and a new bedroom window which should cut down on the exterior noise at night :)
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November 16th, 2009
11:22 pm - That shack out on the range.
Tonight was blues band and I must say it's really starting to come together.
Bottle of coke was possibly not a great idea as I went cold and twitchy, which is not a good combination whe ya trying to keep good time.
La Grange is really starting to work a treat, although getting the timing right on the vocals v guitar is sodding hard work but I've almost nailed it :)
a how how how
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November 15th, 2009
11:28 am - Dumplings - one of the most wrong films of all times
My lovely girl and I have a liking for oddball films made in the far east.
In hour DVD collection there are Japanese horror films such as the wring, oddball martial arts films such as Warrior King and Kung Fu Hustle as well as a good collection of films distributed by a company called Tartan Asia Extreme, including such odd ball films as The Eye triligy, Freezer and not forgetting Oldboy, which is a bit wrong.
Last night we sat down to watch Dumplings, a Chinese language film based in Hong Kong following the the fate of a fading TV star's searching for reclaiming the beauty of her youth as well as the affections of her slightly wayward husband.
To this end she seeks out the 'most expensive' dumplings in town, that contain a secret ingredient guaranteeing long life and eternal youthful looks.
Now this is the blurb on the box, or something similar, and what you expect is a slow reveal during the film to both us, the viewing public, and our main protagonist what the secret ingredient is, how it's got and do doubt a certain amount of twists and turns and, no doubt, some form of tragic end that these films tend to lean towards.
What actually happens is that the full extent of how wrong the ingredient explained in the first ten minutes and then it is compounded with some more wrong served with finely sliced wrong with some vintage wrong to wash it down with and topped off with a desert of poached wrong with creme wrong cup.
It is also very well made with some strong performances from the cast, which just adds to the wrong.
I almost had to watch a Disney film I felt so defiled... but we Settled on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly instead as my lovely wife had managed almost thirty years of life without seeing it.
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November 12th, 2009
11:56 pm - Almost time
Typically I've spent most of the day feeling rubbish and yet I'm still quite awake at almost twelve.
Anyway, tonight I'm going to attempt no chemically induced sleep... which should be interesting :)
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08:46 am - So tired
I had trouble getting to sleep last night which has left me feeling washed out today.
I have had a busy few days (three band practices with three different bands as a starter) and I'm pretty sure I have the edge of a cold.
It's really nice outside atm so I should go do something... but I'm so tired.
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November 11th, 2009
11:55 am - Pie time
Yesterday I made a dramatic leap in my culinary exploits... I made a pie.
Truth be known is was not so much a pie as a stew with a hat, but lets not confuse the issue too much.
First stage was to research pie making and checking required ingredients. This was a three step process:
Step 1 - Go through all cookery books that contain pie
Step 2 - Check the internerweb for pie content (there's a lot out there)
Step 3 - Give and call local authority on all baking, especially short crust and cakes, known as my mum.
Suitable short crust pastry recipe now in hand I contemplated ingredients, chicken and ham is a popular one with my lovely wife and were in stock, as where plain and self raising flour (the authority recommends a fifty:fifty split) as well as margarine, stock cubes etc.
Now I deviated from the authorities advice and went to one of the cook books as the book went for adding all the ingredients to the dish raw and cooking with the hat on, where as the authority would go for cooking the ingredients and adding the hat for the last thirty minutes.
All in all it turned out very well indeed.
Pastry was crisp but relatively light (although I think my pinch of salt was a tad too small) and the internals were well cooked and tasty. I didn't add any form of thickening agent which I think I'll have to consider for next time.
Big bonus is there is a spare portion that I'm shall snaffle for my tea later :)
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November 10th, 2009
01:30 pm - Go on, do something else!
Well I've played my guitar a bit, done washing up, sorted this and that, taken three fruit boxes full of books to the nearest charity shop (I put them on my sack track and wheeled them by hand; see me be good) and now I'm kinda sat here wondering what to do next.
I could re-do the vocals on the track I recorded the other day I suppose.
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November 9th, 2009
01:31 pm - Busy me
SO far I've made all the phone calls I meant to make, plus a few more, done washing up and shopping, played on cubase (how do you get this group track thing to work?), printed off some muddy water lyrics and had a go at La Grange on the old acoustic.
Shortly I will head town-wards sur mon velo and later I have to give a bass lesson, followed by blues band. Tomorrow night I'm jamming with some covers band called the Lego Men and Wednesday is singer/song writer girl; see me be in demand :)
Still need a job mind...bah!
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November 7th, 2009
07:07 pm - I have been creative
Here is today's new song :)
Tis called Tears to Gems and is all my own work.
For those who care about tech stuff it was recording on my Mac using Cubase, the guitar used is my trusty Ibanez through the valve bits of my Ashdown amp and then using the speaker emulation software from Peavy Revalver.
Simples
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10:45 am - But, but...
Apparently I don't need another hard drive for my my Mac, girls just don't under stand :)
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November 6th, 2009
12:07 pm - Five things I'd buy
I'm bored so thought I'd do a list
This is based on me having a big wodge of cash and is in order in which they would get purchased
1 - a new Mac, odd first choice but I could really do with a faster processor and a shed load more RAM
2 - a fretless bass as I could really do with one for one of my current projects/bands
3 - a new guitar amp, possibly a Marshall Vintage modern but I'd probably hunt around a bit
4 - a bigger house/pay off the current mortgage. This would actually be at the top in terms of priority as it would make life much easier, but it's not something you can do very quickly
5 - a New car, when I say new I mean newer, almost certainly a BMW 3 series again but the estate version, probably with a bigger engine.
Obviously there are other things I'd like, more guitars to start with, but the above are my priorities as everything else is pretty sorted.
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November 5th, 2009
02:31 pm - Stalled
My recording for the day has stalled.
Fundamentally I seem to be asking my old Mac to do too much.
Thus I've started some disk cleaning... which may take some time.
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11:18 am - Thursday... yes?
I've been a busy boy so far today, many guitar tracks have been added to a couple of songs.
I'd like to get some vocals down but I fear as soon as I strap on the old ear muffs the postman will arrive with some unexpected parcel (almost certainly not for me) and leg it before I realise leaving behind one of those useful bits of card telling me where I can pick the parcel up from in four days time... if they've not lost it on the way back to the depot or are having another strike.
Suppose I could hang the washing out... but that's not as much fun :)
Oh, this is day four of no booze and it's going quite well.
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November 4th, 2009
10:23 pm - More music goodness
yesterday and today I've been doing some more recording... for the first time in a while.
It's brand new song, and I mean song with words.
Just got the vocal and lead guitar to put down and it's done :)
So watch this space, hopefully some time tomorrow.
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09:20 am - Another day of sunshine
Well the weather is once again cold and bright so I may well get on my bike shortly; head into town, bimble around, maybe go for lunch at me mums.
Managed, quite easily, another night booze free. This is two in a row which I've not done for so long I can't even hazard a guess.
Now I don't view my self as a full blown alcoholic... although I'm pretty close, but I do need to treat drinking as a social event rather than a daily habit.
Now to program some more drums :)
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November 3rd, 2009
09:17 am - Fine days and sleeping tablets
Must say I generally had a good weekend, ok so my sister cheesed me off on Friday night, but that's what she's there for really :)
Saturday we had a meal out at the Midland hotel to celebrate our first year of Marriage and five years of weekend fling. Must say the food was pretty good, but not good enough for what they charge. It's a special place for us as it's where we got married, but for that sort of money I'd expect a little more.
Sunday was spent slobbing and watching the last GP of the year, which was jolly good fun.
Today is the first Tuesday in quite a while that I've not woken up at least slightly hung over. It was another evening of no booze and a sleeping pill an hour before bed.
The sleeping pill is arguably more of a mental aid than anything else as they don't really knock me out, but once I've taken one I can't drink, which is a good thing.
Still feel a bit fuzzy, and I probably need to take them a tad earlier and go to bed possibly about 11 as I suspect I need more sleep when I take them.
But that's free nights booze free in the space of seven days, arguably more than I've had in the previous year :)
I'm currently looking at the outside wondering if it's worth going for a bike ride while the weather is clear.
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November 2nd, 2009
03:01 pm - Autumnal note
Just been for a little bike ride to do some shopping while the sun still shines.
Must say that in the last couple of days the temperature has really dropped.
In other news I've got an email from friends reunited for a reunion bash for my old school.
Thing is that it's not for my year, but for all people who left between 1981 and 1991.
If only ten percent turn up it'll be rammed with people I don't know :)
It is free mind, so could be good for a giggle.
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November 1st, 2009
03:18 pm - Time to start saving for next year
We've just watched the first ever Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and I must say the circuit looks amazing, and I so want to go stay in that way over the top, colour changing hotel; so I've just checked room prices and they start at £574 per night... and that doesn't include breakfast.
I suspect we'd need a budget of something close to five grand to watch the GP in style next year :)
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