Watercooler 0: Nothing Is A Problem For Me

Weird.

The "indigo" was added by Newton I think because it was the thing at the time that all natural things should come in 7 - like the known planets at the time. It was just one of those "magic numbers".

Azure.

Some day I will meet someone with Azure Eyes, that would be the coolest thing ever.

(It's almost my favourite colour, as well. Except that is actually Cobalt, which is close, but darker.)

How does sugar arrive at the Docklands? Like, in what form? It obviously needs to be refined, but is it solid, liquid, super saturated sludge? Or big hunks of sugar cane and/or beets?

http://www.tateandlyle.com/TateAndLyle/our_business/about_our_processes/about_refining/default.htm

Once harvested, the cut canes must be processed as quickly as possible to conserve the sugar and to prevent microbial degradation.This first stage of processing is carried out in factories close to the growing area. The canes are cleaned, crushed and shredded, then sprayed with hot water to extract the juice. The juice is filtered, concentrated by evaporation under vacuum, and crystallised, before being removed from the remaining mother liquor by centrifuge.

Once the economic limit of extraction of sugar from sugar syrups is reached, we are left with the remaining mother liquid, known as 'molasses'. This is a useful by-product which may be used for fermentation processes or animal feed. Bagasse, the residual fibre from the cane, is mainly used as boiler fuel at the factory.

At this point, the sugar is partly purified and in a concentrated, crystallised, microbiologically stable form suitable for bulk handling, storage and transport to refineries around the world.

The raw cane sugar is despatched by bulk carriers to refining plants usually located close to deep water terminals such as at Tate & Lyle Europe's refinery in London. The storage shed at our Thames refinery can hold up to 70,000 tonnes – sufficient to supply the refinery for about 20 days of normal production.

Mmmm, molasses.

"Western Brass" (what I did last night)

I think it's coffeetime.

Either that or I'm going to run away and join the Gypsies like Maggie in the Mill on the Floss.

Let me tell you what isn't fun - manouvering a flight case on a crowded rush hour train. Bah.

It makes me mad, what with cnutish idiots rambling on complete gobshite about how there aren't actually any shoegazer guitars in Shimura Curves and I only say there are because I'm "rockist". Like, WTF do you think is in this case? An Uzi? I wish it were coz I'd gun your sorry ass down like a tarrantino.

Pot, kettle, etc?

God, he's *SUCH* an idiot.

Even my mum thinks that he looks like my brother. She said "PLEASE don't go out with him, Kate - think what the children would be like!"

As if. Hah ha hah.

Rockism is an ideology of popular music criticism, originating in the British music press in the late 1970s or early 1980s. The fundamental tenet of rockism is that some forms of popular music, and some musical artists, are more authentic than others. More specifically, authentic popular music fits the rock and roll paradigm; it is made using the basic rock instrumentation of guitars, bass guitars and drums, and fits the structures of a rock and roll song.

...a fine insult from someone dismissing Britney Spears for being inauthentic.

The term is sort of malleable though, isn't it? As in, it can be used to run down any music you don't like by criticising the process behind its creation (or something).

I think the important paragraph is:

This is as opposed to the notion of manufactured "pop" music, created in assembly line fashion by teams of hired record producers and technicians and performed by pop stars who have little input into the creative process, designed to appeal to a mass market and make profits rather than express authentic sentiments

Because this is, word for word, the kind of crap that Bumlove routinely comes out with about the music that I love.

OK, yeah, I'm making snide comments on messageboards in response but you know what? I *wrote* and recorded Stronger, I know what instruments are used on it. The only thing he's ever written are snide comments on message boards.

Anyway, I'm sick of this twat. I want pointy nosed boys.

Look at the point on that nose:

http://myspace-606.vo.llnwd.net/00954/60/62/954672606_l.jpg

Don't pay any attention to record company twit. I guess it's tiresome having to put up with that shit, but the music speaks for itself, I think.

Is your guitar bag a special Jazzmaster size? I'm gonna get a hard case for mine I think. (Only 4 weeks till I actually **get my hands on** my Jazzy!).

No, actually I was using an old bass guitarbag for my Jazzmaster - they're longer than most guitars so don't fit in the flight case I already had. Bah. I might go out at lunch and get a new bag if I can. Depends on how much they are. Also I need to get a new strap.

The peg that holds the strap on the Danny has gone, and I replaced it with a giant-headed screw, so I need to get a longer strap - and am probably going to have to tape it to the body so it doesn't pop out mid-performance. Which would be embarrassing.

I honestly believe music *should* speak for itself. And it does. But you're always going to get some twat who doesn't "get it" sticking his oar in and telling people What To Think like he's Alaistair Cooke (when really he's just the poor man's Tony Wilson). I don't think music fans need that - or if they do, go and read the sodding NME.

Whatever. Anything he does is going to irritate me, it's just worse when he gets things totally factually WRONG and then sticks my name in it.

What kind of a strap should I get?

::looks at pointy nose::

::calms down::

this is up for sale less than 2 miles from our house. I wish I was better off! It's perfect.

yeah, DiS, which is like... I don't actually care, I don't expect anyone there to "get it". It's just like... freaking Leave Off, already, you know? He left a snarky comment on the band's MySpace a few weeks ago, which I deleted. Now he feels he has to step it up again?

And my bandmates are all "oh, well, you bitched about him on your blog, you don't have a leg to stand on" - but it's like. I *STOPPED* because everyone was giving me such shit about it. And now he's starting back up again.

If it's wrong for me to do it, it's wrong for *him* to do it, but he just seems to get a free pass to do and say what he likes, and no one calls *him* on it. I've dealt with his sort before. I know that the thing to do is just to ignore him, because even slagging him off is giving him the attention that he craves.

It just winds me up and I wish it wouldn't.

God, how can a boy have such *amazingly* thick eyelashes? It just isn't fair. He's got those slighly cat-like Rimbaud eyes, all heavy-lidded and smutty.

(And maybe if I ask enough, all the boys of ILX will post pictures of their eyelashes.)