gnuchu

My Christmas: Jenny Reeve (Strike the Colours)

2009-12-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

My Christmas: Jenny Reeve (Strike the Colours): "With the day of over-eating and cheap crackers fast approaching, the singer from the Glasgow indie-folk collective Strike the Colours tells us what the festive season means to her...

I’m not that fond of Christmas. It’s not that I don’t enjoy spending time with friends and family, or look forward to the food, daytime telly, boozing, pretty lights, that kind of thing.

It’s just that in my head I imagine snow and open wood fires, romance on a ridiculous scale, a man wearing one of those chunky woollen jumpers with diamond patterns on and if I’m honest, probably candles. Every year, I daydream about these things and instead end up sitting in a confined space with my (somewhat depleted) family feeling confused and cranky for no good reason with a paper hat on my head that keeps slipping down and making my ears itch.

I am so lucky in countless ways - I love and am loved in return, I have a dog called Panda who lets me put reindeer antlers on her without complaint and who has the good grace not to scratch them off until I am out of sight, no-one makes me go to the pantomime and generally speaking, none of my family get that upset if the actual day doesn’t yield a proper Christmas dinner (last year we had pizza on Christmas day, then actual Christmas dinner on the 3rd of January because no-one could be bothered to go to the supermarket on Christmas Eve).

So yeah, perhaps it’s more that I yearn for a traditional Christmas, or wish that more of my family lived in this country (or indeed, that we lived there!) so I could celebrate with them properly and not just grin stupidly at a webcam which then gets used for a tour of my brother’s nasal passages or my Dad’s orchids. Maybe.

Or perhaps I’m just not that into Christmas? Crass commercialism aside, it seems to make people very cross indeed and not at all rosey-cheeked and tra-la-la but then, I still haven’t met that guy in the chunky-knit sweater. I bet then I won’t be able to get enough of Bing Crosby, paper hats, mince pies and stupid cracker jokes.

Strike the Colours are having their own Christmas party at The Admiral, Glasgow on 23 Dec, with RM Hubbert, Burnt Island, Olympic Swimmers and Dave Gow of Sons & Daughters

LISP

2009-10-05T06:06:00.000-07:00

What all the recent buzz about LISP for then? I spend half my time looking for missing brackets. So, it's pretty good for mathematical functions that require recursion but I don't want to spend my life looking at this code mess. Check this rubbish out Filthy Filthy LISP

Trying out blogpress

2009-09-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

Does it work? What about the pointless photo?

Who's gayer?

2009-08-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

My friend Kenny keeps calling me gay. But in fact it is clear, he is the gay one. So time for a scientific poll methinks.

The Evidence.

Kenny:

- Would happily do the man love with John Barrowman.
- Can't do a twosie in a public bathroom.
- Has appeared as a character in a gay magazine.

John

- Drives a Fiat Punto
- Has a girl like obsession with shoes.
- Owns OC and Gilmore Girls box sets (that weren't gifts).

Vote now:

Invention

2009-07-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

Why don't fridges either auto-close or sound an alarm when left open for more than, say, 30 seconds. I'm having to drink warm beer here, goddammit.

Out Dumb World

2008-12-21T02:38:00.001-08:00

http://www.theonion.com/content/atlas

Genius

2008-12-17T23:42:00.001-08:00

http://arbroath.blogspot.com/2008/12/messy-gift-wrapping-service-launched-by.html

Three degrees

2008-12-10T14:25:00.001-08:00

goethe said 'be bold and the mighty forces will come to your aide.'

i say 'study enough, and you might learn something interesting.'

ma in social policy starts may 2009.

--
Sent from my mobile device

Cheers,
John.

Pocari Sweat

2008-11-11T04:33:00.000-08:00

I picked up a can of the charmingly named Pocari Sweat last night at the supermarket. I thought it was just badly named but on reading the blurb on the side of the can you see that it was entirely intentional. Turned my stomach a little.

Things i fucking hate...starbucks

2008-11-10T10:28:00.001-08:00

Why do they think i should learn new terms for small, medium , large
and coffee just to order a large black coffee? I don't want to buy
into your corporate bullshit, i just want a coffee.

--
Sent from my mobile device

Cheers,
John.

The bus that hit me

2008-10-29T01:54:00.001-07:00

Shades of Blazing Saddles

2008-10-28T00:25:00.001-07:00

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/27/palin-hears-rally-at.html

What credit crunch

2008-10-08T01:38:00.001-07:00

http://sadguysontradingfloors.tumblr.com/

Broomhoue Explodes

2008-10-02T03:19:00.001-07:00

See Broomhouse towers explode.

http://www.edinburghnp.org.uk/page/bhb_videogallery.aspx

Have a vivid memory of walking past these early one Sunday morning while a disgruntled wife was throwing the belongings of her husband off he tenth floor. His clothes and and Hi-Fi weren't spare. The TV bounced off the top of his car.

The Union Trade

2008-09-30T07:02:00.001-07:00

New band that I discovered via Indiefeeds.

http://www.theuniontrade.com/

Your guitar heroes play guitar, mine write songs...

2008-09-02T15:21:00.001-07:00

...just a thought

Some photos

2008-08-27T07:24:00.001-07:00

Our street:

Dahab on the Red Sea coast:

I need a new camera. They're the only decent photos out of tonnes that I took.

Ten things I've learned in a week in Cairo

2008-08-27T03:59:00.001-07:00

1. The Egyptians drive like loons. The next crash is usually only minutes away. I've already had a minor one as there was a massive concrete block left in the middle of the road that we only saw at the last minute.
2. You don't get many coins in your change. I've had two since arriving. Otherwise it's just notes. The 25 Piesta note is worth about 2.5 pence.
3. It doesn't matter if it's 3am and you are sleeping. You will get thrown in the pool.
4. If you don't go to the toilet before 10am best leave it till you get home.
5. The warnings on the cigarette packets are those particularly harsh pictures...ouch.
6. Mount Sinai is quite the most impressive piece of land I've ever seen. No wonder God chose it to speak to Moses from (allegedly).
7. There are more than the three Pyramids. In fact there are loads. Going to see some at Memphis this weekend.
8. Nothing is feared more than Ramadan by the alccy westerner. We're off to the Drinkies tonight to buy a months supply. We're taking two cars.
9. A road-worthy car in Egypt is one that will go. 80% of the cars here wouldn't pass an MoT.
10. The Arabic for Thank You is Shukran. Hallas means 'I'm finished' - usually used in the context of the end of a meal or sheesha but goes a lot further.

Say "Goodbye Mr Griffiths" and "Hello Mr John"

2008-08-20T00:18:00.001-07:00

You'd think I'd have something interesting to say about Egypt by now. But all I've really seen so far is the back of a car and the inside of an office. They drive like absolute maniacs. Lane discipline is unheard of. Undertake, overtake, it's all the same. I tried driving round the block but kept jabbing my hand into the door when changing gear.

I've got some sunburn; some mosquito bites and it's so hot it feels like walking on the surface of the sun. Got a taxi to the supermarket that was 500 yards away at lunch time (didn't know that when I got in taxi at first admittedly) as the person I was going with said it was way to hot to walk. I agree.

Oh, and they call me Mr. John. When I arrived at the airport there was a driver with a big sign saying "Mr. John" - a title that I think I'm going to start using a little more. I've worked with a lot of Arabic speakers before and been called this a few times before but it was only yesterday that I worked out why - they read from right-to-left.

Oh, and the "villa with a pool" chat was not just a ruse. I live in a villa that has a pool and by all accounts is huge. Haven't even been on all the floors yet. And there's a spare room at the moment!

Hear, hear...

2008-08-14T05:57:00.001-07:00

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-we-need-to-stop-being-such-cowards-about-islam-894361.html

Excellent things you didn't know yesterday...

2008-08-13T03:51:00.001-07:00

...there a small won near Washington DC called Chevy Chase:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=chevy+chase&ie=UTF8&ll=38.698372,-77.102051&spn=2.902189,4.625244&z=8&iwloc=addr

The Daily Mash

2008-08-12T05:45:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you read the news and it seems like you are reading http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7555861.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7555603.stm

A new word...

2008-08-11T08:51:00.001-07:00

Is this a new word inthe English language or an over sensitive content filter? You decide.
http://www.google.com/search?q=consbreastution

Tunes

2008-08-08T04:54:00.001-07:00

More quality Biffy influenced youngsters from Glasgow:
http://www.myspace.com/wehungyourleader

Goatee Saver

2008-08-08T02:17:00.001-07:00

The single stupidest invention I've ever seen:
http://www.goateesaver.com/