The goddess

Last night I rediscovered my age old awe for Grace Jones. That woman is amazing. It was like 30 years had not passed, she looked great, strong, confident and very fit. With a nice line in hats and her trademark feistiness she could have been singing anything and I still would have been stood there with my mouth open.

Luckily, her songs were great too, and I liked most of her new album and the laser off her hat effect and the hurricane final song - which saw her flying across the stage, without the aid of a safety belt - were brilliant.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PcsXHywptHk&feature=PlayList&p=5904C22DEACB8AB8&index=124
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5cHLYMl6t0&feature=PlayList&p=5904C22DEACB8AB8&index=126

The drumming in my head

I have been back from Spain for a few days now and still I can hear it. The magnificent tunes that accompany the drumming festival The Tamboradda. The Spanish really so know how to party and running through the streets following increasingly intoxicated chefs and Napoleon's was good fun.

For those who think I have lost my mind this should explain some of it:
http://www.spanishunlimited.com/spain/fiestas/tamborrada.asp
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bSv1PcM_qXg

It was a great holiday. San Sebastian was beautiful despite increasingly bad weather and the pinchos were pretty good too. We also went to Bilbao and did the nerdy stuff, going across a 100ft transporter bridge - the world's oldest - and having a ride on the funicular.

Here are my photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71619&l=52c7b&id=611030754

Bits and bobs

I've been a bit quiet of late. Mainly because I have had the plague, and now the famine is following in the form of the so called 'credit crunch'.

I haven't been out too much doing exciting things, instead I have been nesting, with my new cookbook from Christmas on frugal food and my new wii games.

Hopefully service will be resumed soon as a) I actually went out last night to see Slumdog millionaire - storyline is a bit far fetched, how many horrible things can happen to one person! The cinematography of India is beautiful though. b) I am going with my mum and Aunties to see the filming of loose women tomorrow - god help us. c) I am off to Spain Friday.

Hurrah for holidays but boo for the Euro.

Nightmare before Christmas

Once again I went to the wonderful ATP festival at Minehead. Although more than a bit chilly, it was a brilliant mix from the eccentric world of music:

My top ten of the weekend were:

• The Dirtbombs: fun, poppy, with a seemingly very camp front man (I think it was just his dad dancing) http://www.myspace.com/dirtbombs
• Meat puppets: a tendency to wanky guitar solos but geniuses nonetheless. One of them has just got out of rehab, the expression on his face tells me it may have been too late. http://www.myspace.com/themeatpuppets
• Os Mutantes: mad Brazilian people. I had no idea what they were singing about but it didn't seem to matter, there were sequins and capes, and that is important. http://www.myspace.com/osmutantes66
• Junior Brown: Old school country with a kick preformed using a double necked guit-steel guitar. They all looked very smart and had permanent fixed grins on there faces. Do not be deceived by there wedding band look! http://www.myspace.com/juniorbrown
• Fantomas: Mad and arty, they performed their directors cut album of interpretations of movie sound tracks, loud and brilliant. There new album is about the month of April. What's not to love. http://www.myspace.com/fantomasband
• Taraf de Haidouks: Romanian Gypsy's who had people crowd surfing, caused havoc by playing outside the door of the venue when their time was up and generally had a good laugh. http://www.myspace.com/tarafdehaidouksbandofgypsies
• Leila: despite being beset by sound problems that would have caused most people to flounce off in a girlie strop, she made a big noise and I would have liked the opportunity to see her under better circumstances. http://www.myspace.com/leilaarab
• The Damned: I had forgotten that they weren't all commercial poppyness. They got back to their routes and made some loud punk noise. Oh, and Captain Sensible got naked whilst singing Happy Talk. Those were the days! http://www.myspace/officialdamned
• Farmers Market: The most eccentric act of the weekend. A kind of pan-European jazz band with accordion and jingle bells mixed in. Fun to watch apart from a most terrible version of Ferry across the Mersey. http://www.myspace.com/farmersmarkettheband
• The Melvins: No list would be completed without a mention to the Melvins. Consistently good. They played here in their current day and 1983 lineup. Mr Buzz Melvin ALSO popped up in Fantomas and Porn. I worked out that he played at least 3 gigs a day for 3 days. They don't call him Buzz for nothing. http://www.myspace.com/themelvins

Also, a note to the Fuck Buttons, I know you are brilliant, I did buy your album whilst I was there (have been meaning too for a while) and I enjoyed your DJ stint. However, there is no need to follow me around. You were everywhere I went over the weekend! Such sweet boys. http://www.myspace.com/fuckbuttons

Grease lightening

Its all about Jamie again today as I went to see him as Danny in Drag Grease last night.

It was hilarious, Jamie's wig was stupendous, and I was very impressed with the dual outfit, one half pink lady and one half t-bird. The photos aren't on the site yet but should be soon.

http://www.absolutelydragulous.com/gallery.html

Apart from having a bit of an identity crisis it was really interesting to see the 'girls' drag kinged up. It opens up a whole new realm of possibilities around sexual identity.

Happy birthday Mr Berner

Last night we ventured to a new venue to see the ever entertaining Geoff Berner. It was the last gig on his tour, and his birthday so we were all in a good mood.

The venue was good but a little small, Geoff has us all lined up like a school photo with the shorter people sitting on the floor at the front. He also played two sets so that we could rotate.

http://www.myspace.com/blackgardenia93
http://www.myspace.com/geoffberner

There was a lot of singing along and joviality, and a particularly hilarious moment when the management mistook my friend for Mr Berner and was asking him questions about his equipment! They are both bald! Anyway, it was a good but late night, I look forward to seeing him again when he comes our way.

Peter and the wolf

I was with my nephew at the playing of Peter and the Wolf this weekend. He found it very exciting, and was on the edge of his seat throughout. My only complaint was you couldn't see the percussion section enough, and this is always the fascinating bit for kiddies.
http://www.halifaxorchestra.org/

3 observations:

• The ladies in front kept turning round and glaring at us every time he wasn't completely silent.
• The man behind us congratulated my nephew on his appreciation of Prokofiev's piece
• The ladies in front glared at my nephew when it was in fact the man behind tapping his feet.

Note to miserable ladies: Do not expect silence at a family concert. Why don't you go home, listen to it on a CD and have a cup of tea or a nice sherry.