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Mile Swim, Tooting Bec Lido, tonight
I've let myself in for doing a mile race tonight in Tooting Bec Lido. But it's OK, as I had 2 days notice (!) and I've been able to get, er, two training sessions under my belt in advance. Do not expect a best time from me tonight.

Anyone around in, say, Streatham tonight? I might drop in on my way home - just have to see how late it all finishes (starts at 8pm).

Wish me luck.

Current Mood: apprehensive

Pixies tickets on sale at 9am
For gigs in 2nd week of October, in Brixton Academy. Here

I'm sure there are a couple of you on my flist that might be interested in this information.

Update: Hmmm, TicketMaster & SeeTickets were jammed solid, but I got tickets for the Thursday from StarGreen.com; StarGreen had sold out their Friday tickets.

Current Mood: old

Falling Ice
Wow. Ruinstorms. Yikes.

Current Mood: impressed

DLO setlist 18/6/09 (or "tonight we're gonna party like it's 1989")
A 60+ hour week meant little time for musical innovation, so I reverted to form and served up an 80's alternative smorgasbord.

Rose of Avalanche - Velveteen
The Cure - Shake Dog Shake
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - You Are Everything
The 3 Johns - Death of the European
Sisters of Mercy - Valentine
Ghost Dance - Both Ends Burning
Revolting Cocks - In The Neck
Lords of the New Church - Pretty Baby Scream
Gary Numan - I Die, You Die
Half Mam Half Biscuit- Dukla Prague Away Kit
Godfathers - Sun Arise

I thought I'd finish on a couple of light hearted tracks, for a music equivalent of "Cheer up goth, Have an Irn Bru".

Next DLO is under discussion; but it seems to be working damn well in the new venue.

Thanks to all my lovely friends who turn up and put up with my nonsense :o)

Current Mood: busy

DLO, Thursday, Mucky Pup
Come along people, it's the last DLO before we take a summer break. The last one was really busy, and the covers theme was a lot of fun.

Not sure what I'll be playing Thursday, I was toying with the idea of a LJ poll, but with work being a bit mad (end of Q2 stuff) and me pulling 16 hrs yesterday I've been a bit busy. So unless I organise a poll later on it'll be up to how I feel as to whether its B-sides, oddities, rarieties and forgotten tracks from: old-school goth; retro-electro; eclectic covers Pt II; or some other sad-geek-DJ idea that comes to me on the night (all female vocalists, songs with animal themes, cryptic connections, or whatever else occurs to me).

Back to t'mill, I've got equity basket options to price; joy ...

Current Mood: busy

Coffee
Here's a quick question - an instant one, in fact! I'm as big a fan of proper coffee as anyone - a large cup of Hot Lava Java is something Kitty got me hooked on - but when there isn't time or ability to make (eg work), what's the best instant folks have found? I'm quite a fan of Kenco's Dark Roast, with a couple spoons per mug, and I occasionally buy Carte Noir. But I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a coffee kick in a jar that I could try. With the work week creeping up to closer to 60 hrs than 50 I'm finding I'm dropping the tea for coffee more & more.

ION - myself and Fran had a very nice 4th anniversary at Young's in Islington on Thursday. I've seen negative reviews of there on the web, but we eat there 1 to 4 times year and have been doing so for years - we've never been dissappointed with the food.

Going to get my quick bike out on the road this weekend (Aaron still has the folder after his got pinched, and the future single speed needs work done). Aside from that, its going to be pottering around the flats this weekend, cleaning & studying, with not too much else. Still being a bit of a hermit, which my wallet and liver are both finding beneficial.

Current Mood: bright & perky

Seaside
Off to Brighton. Going to have to try to fit swotting for the interview around the beach and dinner. Shall see how well that turns out.

Current Mood: optimistic

DLO setlist, 21/5/09
New venue (Mucky Pup, Islington), new take on the night (100% covers one-off). And my contribution to the aural sex was:

Big Black - The Model
Sisters of Mercy - Gimme Shelter
Lambchop - This Corrosion
Nick Cave - Hey Joe
Creepers - Baby's On Fire
Husker Du - 8 Miles High
Wedding Present - Happy Birthday
Creaming Jesus - A Forest
Dinosaur Jr - Just Like Heaven
Swamptrash - Ring of Fire
Therapy? - Isolation
PIG - Hello Hooray
Our Lady Peace - Tomorrow Never Knows
Laibach - Sympath For the Devil (Kennedys Mix)
Damned - Alone Again Or
Ghost Dance - Both Ends Burning
Fun Boy Three - Our Lips Are Sealed

I had the graveyard shift (10 to gone 11pm), but there were still a good number of patrons around until the end. I found DJing sober to be a walk in the park; guess I'm too damn old to get all worried about whether what I put on next is going to get me boo'ed into the street amid a shower of beerglasses (which never actually happened, tho' I did once get really yelled at for refusing to play Loop).

ION - this weekend and the days following I will be as much of a hermit as I can be, ahead of massive interview for a major internal transfer. Fingers crossed.

Current Mood: awake

On the scrounge - Dreamwidth
Myself & Fran are curious ... can anyone help us track down 2 invite codes. Thankee muchly.

ION - not drinking may have its annoyances, but hangover free weekends are pretty damn good.

Current Mood: awake

For the tin-foil hat wearers - LSE event tonight
Come along to a talk on conspiracy theories at LSE tonight. Of course, this could all be part of a masterplan to distract you from The Truth, but I suspect David Aaronovitch isn't top of many lists as a servant of the Illuminati.

Current Mood: busy

Killing Joke
Good gig. Alexander complained that they didn't play enough new stuff, and whilst thats probably true, they did put on a good show. Jaz Coleman can certainly still burn up the stage. To the best of my knowledge this was a warm-up gig for a new tour; given time & money, I'll likely go catch them again when it happens.

Current Mood: awake

Heaven & cameras
Anyone been to Heaven (London, not Ibiza) for a live gig and know how they are about cameras? I'll not take mine if they are arseholes. Thanks.

Current Mood: busy

Spare Killing Joke ticket, London (Heaven), tonight
My mate has decided that the Chelsea game wins out over seeing Killing Joke, so I have a spare ticket for tonight's show. If anyone wants it, please let me know. Think they are £22. Dropping me an email to Gmail, where I'm cjgoth, would be your best bet - if you're on my flist, feel free to drop me an SMS or an email to my work addy (details here). The gig is at Heaven, so I can meet people in/around Charing Cross.

Current Mood: busy

Power of Sleep
Woke up this morning around 8 and after 20 mins more shut-eye I hauled myself out of bed, feeling better than I've done in longer than I can remember. Sorry to have missed party and/or Inferno last night, but damn, a good nights sleep can make you feel like a million bucks. Shall be making a bit more of an effort to get more sleep going forwards, as I've been run down recently, and that can make me irritable as well as dragging down work performance, etc.

Have had a lazyish morning, indulging in a bit of catching up on baseball (Yanks won again last night) - very impressed with mlb.com's latest streaming video incarnation, watching 2 games at a time with picture-in-picture on Fran's Mac really kicks ass. Almost as good as being at a game. The new Yankee stadium looks alright, but I dunno if the Bleachers will be the same as they used to be - I think ticket prices are a good bit more than they used to be (mind you, the airfare to New York is going to make ticket price considerations a bit moot).

Lots to do this weekend, so won't be around too much. Have a new paying guest at St P, so that needs some more work, and plenty else to keep me busy. Might be at D&B tonight, and out for a bit tomorrow, but asides from that I'll be busy being busy.

ION - off the sauce again, indefinitely this time. Old news as of now. Please feel free to buy me a diet coke/Red Bull, and don't pester me to have a $pint/$shot/whatever.

Current Mood: energetic

DLO setlist, 16/4/09
More of a mixture and less of any attempt at a theme tonight. Went OK, none-the-less.

Sisters of Mercy - Gimme Shelter
Earth Loop Recall - Let Yourself
The Neon Judgement - Chinese Black
The Rose of Avalanche - Waiting for the Sun
The Shamen - The Knature of a Girl
Gary Numan - Down in the Park
The Cure - Shake Dog Shake
Smashing Pumpkins - The End is the Beginning is the End
Swans - Love of Life
Therapy? - Femtex
Gaye Bykers on Acid - Nosedive Karma
Faith no More - Land of Sunshine
Husker Du - 8 Miles High
Foetus - Sick Man
Nick Cave - Tupelo

See some of you in Whitby. Looking forwards to it already.

Current Mood: tired

Phone annoyances
Hello people. My phone didn't survive the night - the second Nokia 5200 I've had where the screen has cracked after a pretty minor impact. I'll likely be back up & running in a day or two, but SMSs and calls to the mobile probably won't be returned in the next 24 hrs or so. Dunno if I'll be able to get any of the numbers out of the phone - drop me an email with your contact details pls.

ION - a night of two halves. Thanks Simes for the lend of the kilt. Thanks Kjersti & Preach for a great couple of hours just chilling and swapping stories. Apologies to Ms Raven for upsetting you. Very nice to see people down at Vags, even if I didn't have as much time to catch up as I might have wanted.

Meh. (sighs)

Current Mood: upset

DLO setlist, 19/3/09
After a punky set last month, I was aiming at a more Industrial set this time. Had another long work day today, so that limited the prep I got, but I don't think I did too bad; didn't get jeered off stage with bottles flying at my head.

Front 242 - Don't Crash
Nitzer Ebb - Warsaw Ghetto
Young Gods - Envoye
McLusky - Good Intentions
Neon Judgement - Chinese Black
Big Black - Passing Complexion
Caberet Voltaire - I Want You
Husker Du - 8 Miles High
PWEI - Def Con 1
Bauhaus - Lagartija Nick
Swans - Love of Life
Sisters - Anaconda
Specimen - Syria
Corpus Deliciti - Sarabands
Cruxshadows - Euridyce
Gary Numan - Down in the Park
Cash - Wichitaw Lineman
Cash - Hurt
Cash - Personal Jesus

Last 3 were meant to be a single wind down, but people weren't quite finished up their pints.

Good night. Better than last one. Hope you liked it if you were there.

Sleep now.

Current Mood: tired

Top Aural Action!
So, tonight I spent an evening with the man-of-the-hour, Lord Adair Turner. Yes, him that were on yer TV tonight on the news. Just over a year ago I was at a really good lecture he gave at Cass Business School (where I unexpectedly met up with

inferis in the crowd), where he gave an outstanding lecture about markets, turbulance, et al. If there is one thing that can really impress me, it is effortlessly delivered masterfull oratory, and thats what he gave last year - over 60 mins of top notch aural action, sans notes. So when I saw him doing a return visit (he's a visiting Prof at Cass) I signed up pronto.

Hell, this must be boring much of my flist ...

Anyways, as the CityGoths will know, his FSA report came out today, so he was probably more on TV today than he'll ever be in the rest of his life. He avoided the report tonight, and gave another superbly delivered lecture on finance and regulation. Maybe I'm not half the punk I think I am, but that sort of thing interests me - yeah, I'm a finance/regulatory geek, but at least I'm topical.

Wish I could talk like that, tbh. Unlike Pres B.O., he doesn't use a teleprompter, just sound delivery. Probably honed in debating clubs at public school and Oxbridge, so I should of course hate him, but sometimes you have to forget all that and just enjoy the craft. As I am continually reminded by some of my wonderfull friends, not all public school and Oxbridge kids are wankers, unlike the little firebrand CJ of 20 years ago would have sworn.

ION - I am tempted by money to reconsider a career in IT. Think I'll start really looking for a risk job, and have IT as a short-order backstop. Career fear, good to see you again. (I wish I could be Lord Turner :o)

Current Mood: tired

Ouch
I've heard from a cycling email list I'm on that apparently Greenwich Council has hit upon the great idea of combating icy pavements by mixing in glass with their grit (altho' it may only have been the riverside cycle route that they've used this on so far). Needless to say, this might not be the best thing for tyres, or dog paws, or even for people who fall over without gloves on. Kinda beggars belief sometimes - didn't anyone think that this might be a puncture risk on a cyclepath, or rather dangerous in general?

Current Mood: surprised

Get in the pool
Some good news from work yesterday - t'was confirmed that my team is almost 100% certainly not moving south of the river. No sooner had the mtg ended, I was across the road and re-signed-up to the health club. I'm about to head down for my 4th time in the pool in 8 months. I have my first competition in 2 weeks - which I'm probably going to pull out of - and intend to start back with the swim club i March. I have put on 11 kgs - yes, feckin' 11 kgs - since I took a break from training last summer. Jaysus. I should really stop taking breaks from training, it screws up my body and my head.

Current Mood: determined