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Past Parity

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Rock reborn or the story of the low back account

Something that makes me happy and sad in different ways is the amount of band coming out of retirement to tour again. Now the relics from the 60's that tour the county fairs appears to be an age old institution but more recently bands from my youth like Alice in Chains have been coming back. Not that I'm not delighted that I can go see bands I may have missed (or been too drunk to remember) but some of them have odd choices for new members and you have to ask beyond a certain point why they don't just do something new. The only track I've heard with the new AIC singer I thought he was a little overly theatrical but it may have just been the song.

I also object to VH1 classic playing songs from my late teens and early twenties and classing them as 'classics' now. It's all part of the global conspiracy to make me feel old and crusty. I also objected that in a recent UK poll Oasis album 'What's the Story Morning Glory' was considered the most influential album of all time (over the Beatles I hasten to add). Sadly it's at the point where the next generations Led Zeppelins and Beatles are Radiohead and Oasis, instead of well Led Zeppelin and the Beatles. It’s not that I dislike some of these bands, I just don’t think of them as ‘classic bands’.

We went to Black Angus for dinner this weekend. While I was staring at all the manly pictures of men doing manly things on horseback while apparently getting ready to herd some cattle for my over priced meal, I couldn't help but think in the light of Brokeback Mountain it all looked at little....well fruity. That film really redefined what's it means to be a 'Mans man'.

I ordered some new Seymour Duncan pickups for my Jazz bass as the Bartolini's I have in there are a little on the dull side. I'm really trying to get a more gainy attack sound so I'm hoping these will get me into the realm I want. Fortunately Pie has always been supportive of my addictions.

Talking of supporting out spouse's addictions Pie got herself a new camera this weekend. It's a 8 mega pixel Canon which she's been raving about non-stop since she got it. I have to admit it's pretty flash.

spoke Rob at at 10.00am | permalink | 0 comments

Monday, June 05, 2006

Here’s Johnny

Pie got out her poking stick and told me to get off my rear end and do some blog posting. It seems to fall into the same mental category as ironing and other chores I forget about on a regular basis.


So here’s some of what’s been happening since I last blogged. Pie and I went back to the UK for the first time in 3 ½ years to visit family and do touristy stuff etc, etc. Easily the best part for me was spending time with my little nieces. The eldest one Lizzy (3 ½) comes off as being a little shy and the younger one, Rosey (2) comes across as a little fireball. We went over for dinner a couple of days before we left and my brother asked Lizzy is she wanted “Uncle Rob to read her a bedtime story” to which I got a silent nod, you’d have to have a heart of steel not to melt at that. .


Although I have no immediate plans to go back to live in the UK, Pie and I found ourselves saying ‘well maybe in X years, it’s something we could consider’. Things like the age of our kid, the US and UK economies make a huge part of it (when we went over the dollar was worth 50p, or in other words your money gets halved going over there). .


We also got to do some touristy stuff and saw Les Miserables and went to the Medieval Banquet, which for you US types is like Medieval times, just on a much smaller scale. I also managed to get dragged out and humiliated twice by the entertainment (first being dressed like a wench and made to dance and second by a guy wielding a huge sword). Both times my girlish figure saved the day. .


Modern Union has been reborn as The Demise, having a great debut show at Hell’s Kitchen. I haven’t played to as big or enthusiastic of a crowd in probably 10 years. .


Our adoption process got a little kick in the arse due to the agency not telling us some of the forms would expire. Pie and I are consequently scrambling to do the remaining forms and social worker home visits so we can get it rapped up, pay over disgusting sums of cash then sit on the back burner and slowly stew in our juices and wait for a kid (drain then serve…us not the kid). .


That wraps it up I’m tired and annoyed, probably in that order.

spoke Rob at at 5.00pm | permalink | 0 comments