Corrosive Shame

Off to Germany tomorrow morning. Another reason I won't be posting, but just for a few days.

Then the onslaught of WGT pictures will dribble out slowly...

... it feels like a very long time since my last confession.

Today I have governors meetings so have the excuse of working from home. Actually I'm having to work pretty hard, but this is a moment of diversion. One of my new colleagues said to me the other day "You've fitted in very well. It feels like you've been here forever." - I think it was a compliment. Needless to say my performance review started with "You're doing very well" and then went on to "Like me, you might find you have to be more politic and less direct at times". I smiled, which was probably the best thing to do in the circumstances.

I'm not sure when I last updated, but since then work has been mostly fun and in my spare time I've been mostly exhausted. Of course I missed Whitby, but then I went skiing in Tignes IN MAY. A long weekend (out Thurs, back Monday, Ski 3.5 days) was just what I needed. We even had snow. There are some pictures here. For the first time I dragged an SLR up the mountains and despite falling on it a couple of times the results were good. I was with a guide off piste for a couple of days (though one was cut short with a hospitalisation) and actually felt my skiing was good enough to make it worth it.

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Other than that, weekends have been spent quietly contemplating taking over the world. But more of that in 2009/10.

Last night, because I can remember it, I'll talk about Ian McKellen. Everything oxfordgirl said is true. He did seem to be very well endowed. Sylvester McCoy also looked alarmingly like a hobbit which added to the confusing buzz in my head. Oh, it was King Lear in Stratford if you weren't sure what I was on about.

This weekend is secret plans, next weekend is WGT. Hi-ho hi-ho it's off again to the Eurozone I go. Though I'm not sure I should after the travesty of the 2007 ill-fitting trouser competition in Helsinki. Go Moldova!!

Now, to work. Still love you all, etc. Even if I don't reply to your emails in a timely fashion and so on...

The week before (I think) the club went up in smoke...

Enjoyment ratings, in order of photos.

• Much better than I remember. Quite fun. Oh god, I'm turning into a goth.
• Not really my thing.
• Good solid show.
• My ears! My ears!

( Photos )

WGT 2006 - Full Sets
In my defence I am automating more and more of this each time. Now to WGW I guess...
( Photo Sets )

It seems I've not properly updated for a couple of weeks, so I should probably do that, claim I've not forgotten the Drabbles I owe people and play catch-up before I completely forget what has happened.

Since the last proper update, which seemed to invovle some stupid hobby that involves running across hills in the rain, I have, for the most part, been busy at work. This is in itself reasonably enjoyable - as while my lack of work is often a bit of a joke - in practice I have times of "not busy" and times of "insanely busy". In an ideal world everything would be much more consistent and relaxed, but the world we live in is not ideal.

I'd planned to do an update before last weekend before going to dark_city_edinb, but completely failed - other than to whore some gig photos - but then that's kinda what this journal seems to be about. I do have more coherent thoughts - I just can't ever remember them the morning after.

Dark City, 3 nights of clubbing and bands in Edinburgh was great fun. Quite small scale but good natured, friendly and had some stonking bands. My favourite has to be Soman - even though paradoxically they were one of the worst to photograph. Other highlihgts were XPQ-21 and of course Combichrist. There were these couple of goths who seemed to be at the wrong festival but they were engaging enough. Though probably not enough that they can be forgiven the photoshop crimes on their website.

So I went, I took photos, I spoke to at least one new person (albeit briefly) and even danced. What more can anyone ask for?

This week so far has been panic to try and do four days work in two days - as in a few hourse I'm off to Leipzig. I'm part excited and part terrified, but that's normal yes?

One of each band



Saturday, Edwards Goth Weekend, 05/11/05
Click thumbs for larger

Today was the last part of my OU course - an exam. This isn't itself scary - after all I have crammed extensively and don't even suffer from flashbacks at going back to the-place-where-I-had-my-finals - but by golly my hand hurts after three hours of writing with a pen. Actually, I'm not sure writing is a correct term for the barely legible scrawl which left the end of my biro. I think, at least for me, the days of being able to function in that kind of high pressure, written word, WITH PEN environment are over.

This morning before the exam my mind was jumping all over the place. When the new Depeche Mode album arrived (part of my monthly direct debit to Music Non Stop) I was reminded I've got a ticket for their Birmingham gig next year - followed by the realisation I had no idea where the ticket was. So first I emailled the NEC to say "have the tickets been sent out?". "Yes" they said. "Arse" I said (privately - my arse is mostly my own). So I thought, I'll have to turn the place upside down, and then put it for safe-keeping in my "box of safe-keeping" - this one here, by the PC, with the Depeche Mode ticket for next year in it...

Whitby approaches at a pace. I've nothing to wear - so it's the same old shit then. I do have to sort who I'm sharing a room with and how I'm getting there. It will also be a chance to catch up with people of course and I must get some technique tips from littlelightbulb as it looks like I'll be impersonating her on blankinfinity's guest list the following week at the DeathBoy gig at Edwards. Any initial pointers?

The other excitement from MNS has been Advanced Electronics, Vol 4 which has enough remixed dark-electro-futurefluff to keep me going for weeks. Highlight so far has to be the Soman remix (or should that be RMX?) of Chrome. I, unlike most VNV fans, like Chrome, but this version is a bit pacier and generally an improvement so expect to hear it the next time anyone is stupid enough to let me DJ anywhere.

NMA tomorrow night and in a change with recent tradition I'm not taking a camera - instead it'll be a spare t-shirt and perhaps a spare pair of glasses for when mine get knocked off and crushed in the mosh. The BBC has done me proud though and put up three gigs recently, with Goldie Lookin' Chain coming soon. Links below:

• Queen Adreena


• Killing Joke


• Alabama 3

And now - I'm a bit drunk. This is exciting for me - but I appreciate might be of limited interest to the rest of you. Bed soon, perhaps with another page or two of The System of the World, which is about as much as I can take at one sitting.

Now my backlog of photographs is under control I have a backlog of LJ entry. This is nearly as bad for my sanity, but probably better for you lot as it saves you reading it. Instead, a WIDATW

( Friday )

( Who? )

( SNFNGS )

Much flash crime was committed.

( Late Night )

( Day of Rest )

( Ave! )

I should stop now.

Oh, and I have a job interview, probably Wednesday, probably early. Good luck to at least one other person who has a (different) interview this week.

This has, in some respects, been a long time coming. For various reasons I had a falling out with my PC, and was in such a navel-gazing self-indulgent mopey mood that the last thing I wanted to do was share it with the unwashed LJ masses.

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Oh, and the cause of my despair? Losing 150GB of photos in a hard drive mishap. This left me rather annoyed at the time. I've managed to get 99%+ of them back, and now have, shall we say, a better backup regime than I had before.

I now need to take more photos - sign up here!

Or at least I will after a weekend in a wet field dressed for the Mediterranean sunshine. Perhaps a slight miscalculation there.