The band rears its head once more.

First Jesus Jones gig of the year is now 5 days away. There are still two rehearsals to go, a lot of sample tweaking, and some logistical niggles to get sorted (OK - how do I get hold of all the merch I need in time?)
However, it's great to be doing it again. Having Gen back on the drumstool has mad a huge difference - it feels like the heartbeat is back. Gen plays sharp, tight, and with a lot of power - but there's a groove, and a shuffle to songs like "IBYT" which just makes the song what it should be. I was driving home after the last rehearsal thinking how lucky I am to have found this other family, which has defined so much of my life, taken me around the world, and opened my eyes. We're closer now than we've ever been, and that makes me very happy.

Lager, under threatening skies.

It's one of those odd spring days, today. The skies were clear an hour ago, and now are full of rain, the fat drops just beginning to smack onto the patio. I've just been out to check on the garden - crikey, it's looking good. The Roses are now budding, the lavender is rich and green. The Santolina is fluffy and yellow, the macrophylla a mass of tiny flowers. I'd not really been much of a gardener until I moved here, but it's become a huge part of who I am. I'm going to celebrate with a glass of beer while I cook dinner.

Tired.

Where do the days go? I've spent most of this one in front of a DAT machine, digitising old Jones demos. So far, I've done about fifty tracks, and there must be at lest two hundred more. Tomorrow, it's time to fire Kontakt up, and check that the systems are working ok. The first gig if the year is nearly upon us. 

End of the week

It's been a good day, today. Lots of organising re: the Jones gig (checking the crew, emailing the festival for parking info - all the glamorous stuff. Also saw Neil, our video guru, and got a working DAT machine sorted. That means I've sorted another tranche of demos for the *ahem* secret project. It's looking good, that's all I'm saying for now. I'm now sat on the sofa, while Milo eats a biscuit, watching the clouds roll over the back garden. Nearly time to get that bath run, and get M to bed. Then? Perhaps a curry. I've eaten it once today, so why not do it again? With Indian food, more is more.

Sevens.

How time flies, and changes. I'm sitting in bed, playing sevens. Sevens was perhaps THE card game of my youth, always played with my family. Divide the cards between four, seven of diamonds leads, then you go up and down from the seven cards of each suit, depending what you have in your hand. The aim is to stifle your opponents- hang on to the card that will allow them to play. It's simple, devious and a lot of fun. Now, I'm playing it on an app, and blogging about it via my ipad. Then, we wre huddled around the piano stool, laying cards onto the velvet lid. 

OK, OK........let's try once more.

I't s been too long. I really have neglected this little blog of mine, which seems a shame, after all we've been through. So, i'm going to try again. In the last few years, i've shared so much via facebook, or friendfeed, or twitter - so the posts I used to make seem redundant. Yet, I miss the more personal nature of the blog - it seems so much more cathartic, than just posting a photo on facebook. Plus, I like the fact that it's now - rather quaintly - a bit old-school. So that makes me like it even more. I'm even going to roll back to an old-school layout. Ha! take that, Web 2.0.

Time flying, again.

So, it's a Monday morning, I'm sitting in the playroom, kettle boiling for the bottles, getting the house up to speed. Milo is on his way downstairs with his Mum - and we're off to his 'settling in" session at nursery today. Quite amazing that this amount of time has passed already. Where did all those eight months go?
Busy day today, as I'm looking after him for most of the day, and attempting to tie up loose ends for the JJ tour as well. Need to plot for evening meal too - there's some leftover Brisket that is just crying out to become the best Ragu of all time.

Autumn rain.

Sitting here in the playroom, as Milo shouts and screams and plays with his little baby computer. He's become so much more vocal over the last week or so - and more animated too: he's throwing himself around like a little dynamo. Rain is lashing down outside, which always feels strangely comforting. Autumn is the one season that is best viewed from behind a window.
The conker trees have started to rain their little bounty onto the roads and pavements now, too. It's the one thing that I love most about Autumn, and the one thing that has a slight melancholy twist to it as well: they always seem to do it in the last week of September - my birthday. I love seeing it happen, but it always reminds me that I'm another year older.

It's as old as I am.

And it still sounds incredible.
I'm in my Grandparent's house - 72, Surrey Grove, in Sutton. It's the early 1970's. They have the standard house layout for that time - a front room, where the telly is, where we eat meals, where we sit and play games and relax. They also have a back room - which is the formal lounge. This has the piano, the nice china, the plush cushions, the curtains which tend to always be closed. no-one goes in here without a good reason. I go in because there's a record player in there. A pile of vinyl too - easy listening, some trad jazz, show tunes. And amongst the pile of goodies, the best of the lot - a Tony Hatch album on Marble Arch. This song is on there, and I play it constantly. In fact, I still have the very same album here now - I asked If I could have it, and my bewildered Grandparents agreed, whilst shaking their heads "what's he want that for? It's only music! Sure he'll find something better to do with his life...."

Quiet Sunday? Sort of.

Great day, but not without its drama. This morning, I managed to collide with a small child on his bike, whilst I was riding through Nonsuch Park. He wasn't looking, and just sped out into the road. I had no room to swerve, and not enough time to do anything other than slam on the brakes, and pile into him. He just fell sideways, and I went straight over the bars. Luckily, all those years of skating taught me how to stop, drop and roll pretty well, so apart from some pretty aching shoulders, I'm OK. What shook me up more than anything was that, some ten seconds later, a 4x4 roared round the corner going considerably faster than I had been going. If he'd been hit by that, it would have been very different. At that point, I just kept thinking about Marnie, and what I'd have felt like if it had been her. That shook me up more than the impact.
Apart from that - a day of cooking, and friends. Kelly & Matt came round, with Oliver and Elliot. Lots of Indian food, including a first run for my attempt at Cauliflower and Potato Gashi, which came out BRILLIANTLY. Will definitely be doing it again - and to be honest, it looks like the sort of Curry which could quite easily be adapted - the delicate flavours would go really well with some chunks of firm white fish.
Now, I'm sitting here, nursing an aching shoulder - sipping a cold beer, and getting ready to turn in.

Friendfeed went down today

And finally got back up on line.
I've been using friendfeed for around five years - a lifetime in social media, and it's still the model for what I'd like to see from a social network. Committed users, engaging content (with massive engagement from users), dynamic time line, and above all, a sense of community that turns strangers into friends.
It's still there, and it still does it better than anyone.

Web Genius

Sometime back in 2003, when I started this little blog, I can remember posting a link to Zombo.com, and saying it was possibly my favourite site on the net. Well, almost a decade later, and more than a decade since I first found it - it seems like it's still going. I can't tell you how happy this makes me.

Funhouse

I've been playing this for most of the day.

Fantastic food.

Great lunch - good company, great location, stimulating conversation - and great food.
Le Caprice was a real success (and now we're not sure if we actually had been there before!). I had some incredibly good Sashimi to start, Calves liver with creamed onions and Bacon for my main - and a fantastic trio of desserts. This included a vanilla cheesecake topped with Greengages, which was so good it stopped me in my tracks.
Back down to reality with a bump today, as we deal with poor Milo - struck down with the same Chicken Pox which clonked his sister a couple of weeks ago.

I love it when people return, and surprise me.

I interviewed Esser at least a couple of times during my tenure at NME Radio, and found him incredibly interesting. Always more than his outlandish image - thoughtful, polite, reserved. Very, very focused. I loved the stuff he was doing back then, but this? It's just.....fantastic. As much of a jaw-dropping reinvention as that last Horrors LP.