AndyBlog

Kristina Olsen - In Concert

Fiona and myself went, with Jac and Tris to see Kristina Olsen in concert at the Davey Lamp folk club in Washington. It was great. She is from LA, but is so English in her wicked sense of humour and relentless fun-poking at sex.

I found her instantly likeable and sincere as a musician. She expresses humour with real fun, but without compromising her integrity. This is no “just for laffs” performance. Not at all. She is suddenly serious and soul-searching and just as suddenly poking fun at orgasms.

I love it. I love her. Everyone does. How could they not?

Here, in a brief aside, Fiona demonstrates to Jac the size of my penis - to Jac's obvious amusement.

Thanks Fiona - although I had hoped to keep it a closely guarded secret forever.

Then I noticed the red light behind and wondered if this was really a folk club, or was this a cleverly put together front for some sort of brothel?

I don't remember much about the rest of the night. I do remember a large pile of peanuts and a strained sound coming from the stage - but that might have just been one of the resident singers.

It was all pretty confused.

Good night though. I'd like go there again and again.

Am I losing my mind?

Yes, it happened. For the first time.

I totally totally totally forgot something that I should have easily  remembered.

I am still in shock. I guess I feel a bit like people feel after being the victim of a stage hypnotist like Derren Brown.

I dropped Fiona off tonight and, as far as my mind tells me, I had to await her call, upon which I would drive out to Newcastle and fetch her back home. All pretty standard stuff, you might think.

The scary thing is that when her call came, she was expecting me to be there already. In reality, she had asked me to be there for 11pm - and even to set off from home at 10.30pm.

I have exactly no memory of this being said at all. Usually, when told, I have a guilty feeling of half-memory which tells me that I forgot it. As it is - NOTHING.

I don't like this feeling that I cannot trust my own memory.

Man, that's frightening.

Heater Bypass

I drive an old banger. Most of you will be familiar with me arriving in a beat-up Granada - usually with something or other wrong with it. Often something serious.

Firstly, I should say that I am completely comfortable with this. I like driving an old car, it liberates me in so many ways. My car repayments do not dominate my life, the inevitable scratches do not stress me and if the worst comes to the worst, I just get another one.

OK, justification complete.

The current serious ailment with my current Granada is that the heater matrix is broken. This means that a shower of water sprays over my legs as I drive - or it did. My garage man told me that to fix it would be 300 pounds or more, and that in such an old car, the change in water pressure might compromise the head gasket. I don't really understand in the proper sense - but I see that this would be yet more expense.

I'm a little annoyed with this blog entry, because I set out to say something very simple, and seem to have been caught up in the preamble.

So, to cut a long story short, he has bypassed my heater matrix. This means that I have no heater in the car, but as compensation, my legs are no covered by a fine mist of engine water either. It feels like a fair trade-off to me - or it will until a cold night comes along.

At present, my heat setting is set like this:

When it gets cold, I reckon I will move this dial to the warm position, thus:

My question is simply this: Why will I do this, even though I know for sure that no heat will arrive as a result?

It's quite natural...

...on the hottest night of the year, to have to go and play a gig.

So, lots of equipment to manhandle - lots of hot sweaty bodies and the usual liberal quantities of drink.

I think I will take my fan with me tonight....

Please ignore this...

This is just a link to one of my client sites, in the hope of getting the web-robots to take some notice.

http://www.northernwriters.co.uk

AD-LIB RADIO

It's been a dream for a long time, and now it is reality - all be it on a very small scale.

So, from Wednesday at 10.30pm, I'll be a bona-fide Dj once more - this time to a tiny audience on the internet, rather than to a room full of roller-skaters at the YMCA in Huddersfield.

Maybe you'd like to join me for an eclectic choice in music and my own particular brand of inane rambling. You'd be very welcome.

The only show planned initially is on a Wednesday night at 10.30pm - LATE. Every week.

Worth looking forward to?  I'll let you decide.

To connect with the stream, you'll need Winamp for Windows or iTunes.

AD-LIB RADIO has its own web site - http://www.adlib.co.uk

...and, of course, its own Blog - http://adlib.blogs.com/radio

Always with the Blog, eh?  :)

Foggy Graveyard

Our foggy graveyard, today

Today, it is foggy, and here is a picture of the foggy graveyard, to prove it. The fog seems to have happened because it is foggy.

Boring technical post

I'm really excited and pleased for what Terry has done for me. He took a completely unused document holder, and made it into my dream of an adjustable mic stand for use by me at my desk.

No longer to I need to lean up to the mic when I am Skyping people, or when I'm trying to talk to them in the booth, above the noise of the backing track.

Not only that, but when I finally sort out my radio station plans (current title: “Ad-Lib Radio”) it'll be great to use for DJ'ing.

So, thanks, Terry. It's great.

Thanks, Terry.

(Stop that, Jason)

Naughty-doing in Newbiggin-By-The-Sea uncovered!

Looks pretty innocent, doesn't she? But when you've heard what I've heard, you may change your view entirely. Unless I'm wrong on the scale of Tony Blair on the WMD thing, this sweet child is trying to control her parents and make them do her bidding.

You can see the video clip in full in Katrin's own Blog - proof that she originated the file.

If you want the scientific proof, click HERE. I have extracted the sound track and played it forwards, before reversing it to reveal the backward masked suggestion. It's amazing - particularly when you realise that this sweet child watched an Indiana Jones film tonight. You'll have to read her Blog to see why that is significant. This is all pretty powerful stuff.

I will be informing the relevant authorities and seeking professional help for Jason and the rest of the family. A cursory examination of family life shows that the little lady has already got her family to provide her with free clothing and meals. Who knows what else she is capable of?

I feel better for sharing. Thanks.

PS Please say nothing about this to Jason. It's better that way.

Am-arylis becomes Was-arylis

(Firstly, let's be clear on the title situation. Cal thought of it - and I liked it.)

The end is nigh. Amy is dying away. The strength seeps from her with each passing moment.

Such a pretty death...