Friday, September 12, 2003

“Oh, I can smile about it now/But at the time it was terrible”

Our landlord finally arranged for a contractor to come out and fix the damage caused to our flat by the pipe leak we experienced several weeks back. Imagine our surprise when we got home Monday to discover that the contractor had locked us out. The landlord has a key that we don’t have a copy of, and he has already used it to inadvertently lock us out before. This time, he had mistakenly given this extra key (along with the regular keys) to the contractor who had then used it to lock up the flat when he left. Whereas before a quick call to our letting agent resulted in us getting back into the flat within half an hour, this time we were informed that the landlord was nowhere to be found. With the landlord missing, the only other copy of this cursed extra key was in the hands of the contractor – who of course had left for the day and could not be reached. The letting agent was now on the case, but it wasn’t until hours of hanging around our neighbourhood killing time (and later on a few hours in the pub killing brain cells) that we finally got a resolution. The letting agent said that they had decided to send out for a locksmith to get us into our flat since they could not track down the landlord and could think of no other option. It then turns out that the lock in question was some heavy duty super-lock, so after ten minutes of picking and prodding the locksmith gave up and used a crowbar to pry open the door. We later found out that the landlord had actually gone on vacation without telling the letting agent. To be honest, the thought of him returning from vacation to a locksmith bill of £200 (!!!) and several angry phone messages from the letting agent makes me happy. Call it a surcharge for being a bloody moron. But needless to say, all these shenanigans were not the best way to start a week.

What happens when you combine some of the best aspects of Thai cuisine with the freshness of seafood? You get a delicious meal of Thai Green Curry Mussels, which I enjoyed recently at the always-excellent Mussel Inn found in Glasgow’s city centre. This restaurant is owned and operated by a consortium of shellfish farmers from the west coast of Scotland, resulting in some of the most affordable and fresh seafood I’ve ever had.

Saw a clever spy flick the other day called Cypher. While you can see some of the twists coming, it is the mood set by the cinematography and the incredible acting of star Jeremy Northam that really makes it stand out. I also had a private thrill when at one point, as the camera panned out in a scene supposedly set in Washington, saw what was clearly downtown Toronto.

The cooler nights of autumn are now upon us, so a quick profile of the album that I think best captured the mood of the summer of 2003 seems apt. This would be the brilliant debut from The Thrills titled “So Much For The City”. The Thrills are an Irish band who relocated to California in order to inspire their songwriting, and the result is a wonderful mix of sunny melodies and wistful harmonies that recall images of pints on patios, weekends at the cottage, and road trips where both the windows and the motorway are wide open. But the themes and lyrics have just enough of an edge to ensure the album is more than just a sugary treat. Strongly recommended…and if you have a chance to see them live, don’t miss the opportunity. They were brilliant at T in the Park, and I can’t wait to see them again in October when they play Glasgow.

Speaking of The Thrills, they were nominated for this year’s prestigious Mercury Music Prize which honours the best British album of the past year. Also nominated were Coldplay, Athlete, Radiohead and The Darkness. In the end though, all of them lost out to rapper Dizzee Rascal. I though that was a piss-poor decision, but then again historically speaking the Mercury Prize gets the nominations spot-on but blow it with the winner. I mean, Roni Size over Radiohead's OK Computer in 1997?

No comments: