Ayrshire

The weather this weekend was fantastic, so we decided to take a trip down to the Ayrshire Coast which is only about an hour southwest of Glasgow. Took the coastal route and spent most of the day on the grounds of Culzean Castle.

Phoenix @ King Tuts

Music that sounds like a perfect summer weekend: fun, full of sweetness and sunshine, and over much too soon.

The new album is an essential add to your record collection. First single Long Distance Call has somehow already managed to top my iTunes Play Count list.

Czech Mate

This post is far too many months late, so just the bullet points:

• Cheap European flights make long weekends to the Czech Republic a resonable option.
  
• Prague is gorgeous in the snow. In fact, it's gorgeous full-stop.

• Leaving one cold place to go to another is a legitimate holiday option, despite what British people tell you.
• Meeting old friends is even better when abroad.

• The beer does taste better (for whatever reason). For those who know Steve, he doesn't drink beer - but he seemed to enjoy it here. The thought that he was humouring me did cross my mind right enough.

• It may be more popular these days, but good value is still to be found. Pints under £1 were to be had.
• The meaning of life can be found in an old smoky bar at the bottom of a glass of Becherovka.

Metric @ The Barfly

One of the advantages of the UK music scene is that you can catch Canadian bands in much smaller venues than you could back home. Case in point: Metric in front of about 100 people.

It was my first time seeing them live, though I've heard all the stories.

And what can I say? I tried not to be seduced by the Emily Haines persona, but failed miserably. Brilliant.

Matter Of Time

Just had myself a great little weekend.

Ran my first 10K of the year. This was an especially nice one, through the woods and along the loch shore near the Trossachs town of Aberfoyle. Achieved my personal best time too.

The weather was gorgeous, and since we were up there anyway, Robbie and I decided to tackle Ben A'an which provides views like this one.

Caught the Scottish Cup Final in a wee pub in Callander. While it wasn't the ultimate fairytale ending, it was pretty close as Second Division Gretna lost in a penalty shoot-out to second place Premiership team Hearts. Exciting stuff, and that comes from a guy who would hardly win football fan of the year. Finished it all off with pints in Glasgow.

But the real capper came the next day. This was, for me anyway, a dream gig. First up, the aptly named Holy Fuck because that is exactly what we thought after witnessing their set. Insane energy, and impossible not to nod the head and tap the toes, regardless of how indie cool you try to be. Next up - Tahiti 80!!! This band from Rouen has been on high rotation for me since 2000, and was top of the list of bands I wanted to see live. I feared that ridiculously high expectations would ensure this was a letdown, but they did not disappoint - a fantastic 30 minute set of sweet pop melodies. Fingers crossed for a quick return, and not in a support role next time. And then the headliner, Buck 65. My love for Mr. 65 is well documented, and despite having seen him only two weeks before as part of the Triptych Festival, this was one of his finest sets yet. Lots of (amazing) new material, a good sample of the classics, and the banter was brilliant as always. Awesome night - I'm still buzzing despite a horrible rainy Monday.

Go Sens Go

One of the unfortunate aspects of living in the UK is that it is nearly impossible to find North American sport on TV, even with satellite (which I don't have anyway).

So rather than get the excitement of watching Ottawa play live, my "Sens Fever" comes from checking the results online first thing in the morning.

That said, if the Sens can make it to the finals this year, I'll be able to watch the games live on terrestrial TV (live at 1am, but still...).

And as tempting as it may be, I'll not kick the Leafs fans while they're down. :)

UPDATE: Oh well, so much for that.

Run for your lives - it's BIRD FLU!

Bird flu has come to Fife!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4881850.stm

Already I've seen the big, red, and block letter headlines in the tabloids. I've heard the water cooler talk ("better avoid chicken", "maybe we shouldn't go to the countryside"). Have I missed something? This has got to be one of the biggest non-stories in quite some time.

But the media love it. People are tired of hearing about the atrocities in Iraq (More killings? The war still illegal? The Bush administration is still a group of corrupt scumbags?). British politics are a bit too boring lately (Blair - Brown rift? Heard it!). Disease outbreak stories are exciting, but most of them are old news that don't sell papers. AIDS in Africa - same old, right? But bird flu? Brilliant - everybody loves a good story!

So we get articles that contain the basic facts, but are lead with sensational tales prefixed with keywords such as "potentially", "could", or "may" to ensure the report is journalistically sound. The result is gems like "may result into a pandemic, potentially putting millions of lives at risk".
And you better keep your eye on your pets too:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4878868.stm

Blair must love all of this - all of a sudden, Labour corruption and the ongoing saga of Iraq gets bumped out of the headlines. I suppose there is always a possibility that he had poor Gordon drop that swan off himself. His riding is in Fife after all, and that may explain why Mr. Brown is so grumpy with ol' Tony lately. Or not.

Anyway, been to any good concerts lately?

Let It Snow

Went out last night to catch The Feeling at King Tuts, a band who is doing a great job rehabilitating the credibility of soft rock. We caught a taxi home, and noticed that it had begun to flurry which was slightly unexpected. However, I certainly wasn't expecting to see this out the window when I awoke:



Apparently about two hours after we got home, the accumulation was such that the transportation network across most of the country was shut down, and up to 3000 people were stranded in city centre Glasgow and had to be sheltered in hotels and the bus station. Clearly not a nation prepared for significant snowfall!

Without plows, most of the roads are still in no condition for vehicles. But who needs a vehicle? This is a day for a walk and a wee visit to the coffeeshop!

Around the neighbourhood


Queen's Park


Sledging!

I'm taking off my watch / I'm trying not to think about time

Right, and where did the last two months go? I was going to start this with Happy New Year, but I'm pretty sure it's past the stage where that is acceptable (despite being no formal cut-off point that I know of).

Looks like I'm not the only one not keeping up with their blogging?

So yeah, time flies and all that. As expected, the trip home was great. Wonderful to see everyone, though like last time there were several folk I didn't get to see (which means it has been nearly 4 years in some cases...). And yes, I can now say I've finally been to one of these:



Fi and I decided to make much more of an effort to get onto mainland Europe this year (as lovely as this island is). As a result, first up is my longtime delayed trip to Prague. And then a bit of brainstorming to see what the summer will bring. I certainly think it's time for a return trip to France.

I've also got a few ideas for long-distance walks floating around in my head. I still fancy the idea of continuing my cross-Scotland walk (have now covered Glasgow to Inverness) but I recently was introduced to the Speyside Way (straight through some of Scotland's best whisky country) which would be a right treat. Shall see, but will definitely do something in May.

It's been a very eventful concert season thus far. A few highlights:

• NME Tour: Arctic Monkeys were by far the buzz band, and yes they were good. But Maximo Park showed them all how it was done.
• Hayseed Dixie: Classic rock covers done by a bluegrass band - brilliant.
• The Cribs: Pure indie-pop magic. If you haven't, you need to get their two albums.
  
• Broken Social Scene: Much like Arcade Fire, I needed to see the live show before I really appreciated the album. Simply fantastic - great crowd vibes.
• Editors: Great tunes. Shame about the Chris Martin-esque posturing.

Managed to score T in the Park tickets this year - a lot of people didn't since Glastonbury is not on this year. Promising line-up.

Interested to see how Scotland's smoking ban will work out when it takes effect on the 26th of March. Unlike how it happened elsewhere, this isn't being phased in gradually. Hefty personal fines and the threat of alcohol licences not being renewed should ensure that it is taken seriously by pubs and punters alike. Well, it worked in Ireland! I've heard the arguments on both sides, but what it comes down to is that I can soon go into a pub and not have to worry about smelling like an ashtray when I leave which is good enough for me.

I recently noticed that the last of the Dark Tower series is finally out (after what, thirty years in the making?). I remember reading the first 4 (of 7) books many years ago. I've started re-reading the series from the beginning and much to my surprise am finding it is still a good read (in a switch off your brain before bed kind of way).

Got nabbed by a speed-cam. 60 quid fine - bugger.

It was Fi's 26th the other day, and had a fun little party chez nous. And a bit of this to polish off the night after far too many drinks. Geek-tastic.

Home Sweet Home

Sushi in the Annex. Pints of Keiths. Insomnia. Green Room. Stars at Lee's. Sleeping on couches. Mel's. So good to be back!

The combination of a scanner and a wave of nostalgia got me inspired. Mike got the ball rolling nearly a year ago, so here is my contribution of some old high school pics. Pardon the dodgy quality on some - should have taken better care of these!