Lots of people don’t like champagne, it’s perfectly common. Apparently Stephen Fry is allergic to champagne.

And google image search is rubbish:

Your search—pointy-nosed girls—did not match any documents.

Suggestions:

* Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
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YOU DISTURB AND CONFUSE ME, SIR

xpost

...though Josh is also looking quite hott in an Austenian brooding sort of way, and god, Brandon’s nose looks pointed there.

I’m glad I’m not alone in my champagne disliking ways. I can just about drink Moet about once a year on New Years, but that’s as far as it gets.

I am okay with Champagne, but if I got rich I’d rather spend it on bourbon

Hurrah!

On Feburary 20, 2007, Jesu will release their second full-length, Conqueror, through Hydra Head. As the immediate successor to industro-pioneers Godflesh, the trio, which consists of Justin K. Broadrick, sometime Swans drummer Ted Parsons and ex-Cable Regime bassist Diarmuid Dalton, has created their most beautifully epic album yet, full of catchy hooks, clean vocals and a bunch of other sounds not typically associated with Broadrick or Jesu. In a recent interview with CMJ, Broadrick said, “It’s really pop. It’s way more pop than, say, the first actual Jesu album, which is actually like a black hole of depression. But it’s still very emotional and very depressing.”

Jesu worked hard to make this album more of a “band” outing, and ended up with eight songs that total about 60 minutes. “It’s not like the first album, [which] by my own admission, drags intentionally,” says Broadrick. “The first album was pushed to the max at 75 minutes and, intentionally, I wanted it to be use it as you wish. But for those who listen from start to finish that’s fine, but I wouldn’t[laughs]. But this album you can take in one session, I think, and it’s very melodramatic.”

Broadrick is also quite proud that “there’s some quite short songs on there as well”—At least two or three songs at five and a half minutes. “I think there’s only one song that’s around 10,” he says.

In other Jesu news, Broadrick has said that a US tour is possibly—finally!—in the works on his blog saying, “Jesu WILL hopefully be touring the U.S.A. beginning late Feb ending early April 2007 in support of the Conqueror album release in mid Feb 2007. More info soon... ” Also coming soon are a slew of other Jesu releases, inclulding a Hydra Head/Temporary Residence limited-edition split release between Jesu (Broadrick only) and Eluvium, a Jesu and Battle Of Mice split for Robotic Empire and a limited Jesu 12-inch EP with two songs, “Sun Down” and “Sun Rise” for Aurora Borealis. Broadrick has also started a group called Grey Machine with former Head Of David collaborator Dave Cochrane.

Tracklist For Conqueror:

1. Conqueror
2. Old Year
3. Transfigure
4. Weightless & Horizontal
5. Medicine
6. Brighteyes
7. Mother Earth
8. Stanlow

Right, it’s Toxicity time.

Cool, Kerr!

TISSP, bourbon is onsale at Sainsburys, 2 for £25—should I stock up?

I should really do some work. I haven’t even started Giant Johnny yet.

which bourbon?

This bit made me chuckle.

Broadrick is also quite proud that “there’s some quite short songs on there as well”—At least two or three songs at five and a half minutes.

People kept saying that Jesu(the last EP especially) was like Ride.

These comparisons wont go away now.

Jim Beam.

Ah man, speaking of which, I just got an invitation to go upstairs and have champagne for our company’s birthday party.

And yeah, that Silver EP, funnily enough, was just like the Ride song Silver... ;-)

You should stock up iff you want me to be hanging around your house all the time ;)

Yeah, and what am I going to do with you? :-P

I can’t drink bourbon, it makes me punch people.

“What? Nothing... we just talked!”

Wow, the hair on the back of my hands is growing back finally (the things you noticed when yr bored out of yr mind).

I never knew you were a wearwolf, TISSP!

werewolf. werewolf. werewolf.

Not quite! I managed to wax my hand in an unfortunate candle-on-skin collision.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Ed—I’m planning on coming along, but I’m supposed to be swimming in Hackney Lido earlier that afternoon. This is one of the least pleasant things I can imagine doing, especially in December, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do it anyway. So I may not still be alive by that point. We’ll see.

ed, i think lumi. listening to the rebecas now, it’s ok, fotl used to be mclusky therefore will be mighty

I have now had a bit of champagne. It was OK. Laurent-Perrier or something like that. I think it’s what we feed the clients.

Isn’t that a perfume?

Possibly.

Yaaaayyyy!!! The Graham Method of Database Administration totally works!!!

When I was upstairs, I noted that all the conslutants had chocolate Xmas calendars. I threatened to turn all the reports off, one by one unless I got chocolate.

So my boss just came downstairs with a chocolate calendar for me! Hurrah!

“Graham Method” ROFL

That Threshers voucher thing is a bit of a rip-off, really. Threshers and their associated offlicences have a MASSIVE mark-up on their wines, hence their permanent “buy 3 wines for the price of 2” offers giving you an automatic 33% discount at all times anyway (which that voucher voids if you use it). Their 3rd bottle free offer pretty much just brings their prices down in line with top-end supermarket prices, and given that most supermarkets give you 25% off if you buy six bottles, even on wines that are on offer, you really aren’t saving anything by going to Threshers and using your voucher. All it’s doing is getting you into their hideously over-priced shop.

Yup, lots of nice free publicity with all this “OH NOES THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS GREBT OFFER” nonsense.

I was trying to find pictures of TISSP! in a shopping trolley, but all I found was a photo of TISSP!‘s organ.

“Hear me! Hear me! Stop eating Popplers! Stop eating them with honey mustard sauce! Stop eating them with tangy sweet-and-sour sauce. Stop eating the new fiesta Poppler salad. Stop taking advantage of the money-saving 12-pack.”

(xpost)

I got to play that and everything.

I’m so freaking jealous. I so want to play that organ. It looks luscious.

It was fucked, to be honest

I’m sure it was. ;-)

The actual photo you’re after:

I love how serious Jon looks in this.

We are talking about the same organ, right?

xpost

Rowr.

Jon totally looks all “OK, I take the business of trading cute boys in shopping carts out back of the shop after midnight VERY seriously. How much will you bid for my fine wares? Make me an offer. Oh you’ve got to be JOKING. Why I paid TWICE that for that one.”

Haha that’s exactly the kind of thing he would say. Uncle Moneybags, we call him. Oh the laughs.

right, I’m out of here. Emsk, Kate I will call.

cheerio, ed

I’ll be here... in ur office, analysing ur maths.

Right, I am going to turn off the interweb now and put my nose to the grindstone and do my MonthEnd now it’s after hours and people have got off the system.

:(

Better go to practice, then, I guess!

Not quite! I managed to wax my hand in an unfortunate candle-on-skin collision.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Serves you right for going to visit FP!

Sweet jesus christ on a bike!!!!

Who is this creature?!??!

And why can’t I find anything about his pointy nosed goodness that isn’t in Italian or French or something?

Would you believe me if I said it was Louis?

Serves you right for going to visit FP!

Hey!

(although, yeah, candle-wax does feel gorgeous)

Strange, because I remember going something along the lines of “Argh fuck fuck fuck that really hurts”....

Threshers and their associated offlicences have a MASSIVE mark-up on their wines, hence their permanent “buy 3 wines for the price of 2” offers giving you an automatic 33% discount at all times anyway (which that voucher voids if you use it). Their 3rd bottle free offer pretty much just brings their prices down in line with top-end supermarket prices, and given that most supermarkets give you 25% off if you buy six bottles, even on wines that are on offer, you really aren’t saving anything by going to Threshers and using your voucher. All it’s doing is getting you into their hideously over-priced shop.

Yes, they must mark up the wine a fair bit, but I buy all my wine from my local Thresher and I have discovered at least 3 types which are fantastic*—at least as good as any other £6 or less bottle I’ve found—and I get them for £4.66 a bottle. Sounds good to me.

Tissp—I think you get about 4 week’s grace on your tax disc—obviously they don’t make a big deal of this, but last year I got a fine exactly a month after I should have had a new one, and this year I renewed three weeks late (online, btw, which is so much easier) and didn’t get into trouble.

*Zenato Valpolicella, Sandy Lane Zinfandel and Casillero de Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon, in case you’re interested

Yeah, I’d already got one (online too, which was really easy)—I just forgot to put it on the car because I have a mind like a sieve. It was all fine in the end. Managed to get home without being caught by the rozzers.

Casillero de Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon

Didn’t they do that “Let’s Make Love and Listen To Death From Above” song?

I’m not a big fan of any Valpolicella, Mark, but I’ll give the other two a try. In fact, I think I’ve had the Casillero de blahblahblah before, it rings a bell. And any Zinfandel is pretty much OK by me.

morning all

Well hello!

Morning everyone. This Monday is a lot more difficult than most . . . I got up late, Today was boring me, 6music was irritating me, and silence was depressing me. Th tea was too hot, the clothes were still wet, and a housemate has broken the toaster. The whole morning has got out the wrong side of bed.

Morning all! Sorry things have started out on the wrong foot for you this morning, Johnney—it can only get better from now on! Keep smiling :)

I had a nice time in Bath over the weekend (the town in Avon; I did not spend a whole weekend in the bath, that would be silly). The Christmas Market was a bit rubbish (lots of stalls, but they were all much the same, and also the stuff was v over-priced), and everyone seemed very rude and bad tempered, with lots of elbowing and barging going on. It was just really nice to have a weekend away though :)

Excitement yesterday = taking the dog for a walk through nearby woods yesterday lunchtime, I found a SKELKLINGTON! It’s the size of a very large dog—Great Dane sort of size—and it was in a curled up/sleeping position under a tree. My husband insisted on bringing the skull back home with us to look at more closely (because he was convinced it was that of a Big Cat). There have been several reported sightings of a panther across the moors where I live, and so he was all excited that we might have stumbled across something exciting.

I’ve checked loads of animal skull pictures on the web, and I’m fairly certain it’s actually a very large dog—the skull is probably about 15“ long, and the canine teeth are simply huge. Since the teeth are in almost perfect condition, I’m inclined to think that it’s a domestic pet, and not an animal which has been living wild. Which is kind of sad, really—someone’s Very Large Dog must have gone missing, and died alone in the woods (probably about a year ago, based on how clean the carcass is).

The whole morning has got out the wrong side of bed.

I’ve got that feeling too. Partly because I had a lovely weekend and now I’m back at work, and partly because my mother decided to start shredding her old credit card bills at 7am this morning. Having the house filled with a loud GRRAAARRRRRRR noise when I’m still only on my first cup of coffee is not going to set me up right for the day.

That’s a sad thought, CJ.

I remember going something along the lines of “Argh fuck fuck fuck that really hurts”....

That’s because you’re doing it wrong ;-)

(candle-wax tips: drip it on from a height. If it hurts, drip it from a higher height!)

OMG, pics! Pics! Just of the skill tho, a pic of lots of bones won’t help me cheer up none.

(Now at the other side of A Very Strong Coffee, so have perked up somewhat)

Oooh, FP, how was the photoshoot?

I don’t have the skull with me right now, but I’ll post pics of it later on today :) It’s quite fascinating.

Ooh, I didn’t say! I’ve seen some of the pictures. You can’t tell it’s me, but they are rather nice.

(if you think of them as “main subject with fashion accessories”, like your usual fashion shoot, then I’m one of the accessories)

The woman who is the main subject has put some of them up elsewhere. I’m not posting links here, but if anyone *really* wants to see I will email a link.

Like Kate isn’t gonna want to look ;)

The whole shoot was an interesting experience—it made a nice change to be at the club with just a handful of friends. Partly it was good because I rarely get to see them in just a small group of people, so we don’t often get the chance for a chat without people interrupting all the time.

It’s interesting for *me* to see the pictures, because, due to the poses, most of the time I couldn’t see a thing and had no idea what was going on in the rest of the shot, what pose the subject was doing, what her expression was and so on.

FP, this morning on the escalator I was thinking about something, sort of an outgrowth of things people were talking about here (dating relationships, etc.), that I wanted to ask you about. If I’m not wrecked after work today (and if I haven’t forgotten my brilliant insight/burning question by then), I’ll try and zip off a note this evening—can I just use the address that shows up here?

Yes, you can.

Oooh, I have a shiny sandbox login.

Three weeks until Christmas! Hurrah! I seem to have spent most of the weekend on a bus, going to and from London on Saturday/Sunday morning to see Johnny Boy at the Stay Beautiful Christmas party. Which was fun, although being by yourself at one of those things is a rather soul-crushing experience.

And now to Monday. Bah. I think I may have got up on the ‘can’t be bothered side of the bed’ today...

I feel like shit. Chest/sinus infection has got worse.

Sorry to hear that Norman. Are you off work?

When everyone is feeling rubbish all at once, it makes me tempted to believe in astrology.

No, I had to come in, I have a bunch of bills to pay, a couple of mail order parcels to go out, if I don’t come in, it doesn’t get done! Sux0r to be self-employed.

I’ll close early when the parcels have been collected most likely.

Grrr, now the end of the month figures are starting to annoy me. I’m getting like 3 times higher for this month that last month, so it must be wrong. I’m stressed and tired, and not even Tchaikovsky is sorting me out! :(

Maybe I need more coffee. That’ll stop me from being stressed . . .

When everyone is feeling rubbish all at once, it makes me tempted to believe in astrology.

Have I mentioned this before?—here that kind of thing gets attributed to cosmic rays. They even mention it in the weather forecast!

Morning, peoples!

Can I add to the chorus of “bah, humbug, morning” around here?

Actually, I’m in a pretty good mood, I’m just tired.

Had a great time last night, mulling and then barn dancing, but even though I left at a decent hour, the OMIGOD I’VE GOT TO HAVE CHIPS IN PITA NOW NOW NOW urge struck me as I was walking down the hill home so I didn’t sleep very well.

I’m looking forward to seeing the skullington pictures, CJ! Poor dog. But the last time I found a skull in the woods, it was a deer skull and I had to fight my dog to get it off him!

Word up, people. I feel sorry for Louis today.

Why, what happened to Louis today?

Something else has just pissed me off today but I can’t talk about that. Grrrrrrrr. :-(

But then I got a nice email from PBW, which kinda made up for it. Just when I decide I’m totally not bothered by him, he decides he wants to be friends. OK. Whatevs. ::shrugs::

Why? (Hi!)xpost oh yeah?

I think you have mentioned it, Mitya.

Oh yeah, Gooblar! Suzy got pictures of your dancing boys routine. It looks freaking cool. Just waiting for Ed to email me the pictures and I will post them.

Anyway, as I said last night, I am officially Over Boys. Square Dancing is the new sex. For the first time, ever I stripped the willow* without managing to take out an entire row of dancers.

*this is actually a folk dancing move, not something FP is into.

He’s being savaged for saying Yanqui UXO is a good record. Which it is. But I would say that. I am the Geir of Post Rock

Cool. I’m Over Boys too.

rats, I forgot and they are on my computer at home, you should have made me do it as I was standing there.

Folk dancing is also full of cute girls.

I’m not even going to bother protesting innocence any more, I think

Apropos of nothing

DAMMIT!!! x-x-post

Which one is Yanqui? I can’t tell GSYBE records apart, though I think my favourite is A#F#∞ but that could just be the name. (the one with that gruff voice talking about “the driver is dead at the wheel” or whatever he says. Cannot quite remember, will have to dig it out when I get home.)

Honestly, I know it sucks and it’s the most massive shame, because I used to get so much enjoyment out of it, but I cannot read ILM any more. It’s not even because of trolls and idiots—well, then again, I suppose that depends on your definition. There are two people who have made it completely intolerable to me, even to read.

Yanqui is the latest one. It has “Rockets Fall From Rocket Falls” and “Motherfucker=Redeemer” on it. F#A#? (I feel pedantic correcting the order, sorry) is the one with “the driver is dead at the wheel” (“Dead Flag Blues”...I think)

Weirdly, so am I. I’ve got that old fashioned “never gonna be randomly fancied again” feeling this morning as well, which isn’t aiding my demeanor. And I’m being bullied by a gu who wants me to fix his database—well, fuck him, I said I was gonna do it at the start of next year, and if he keeps this up, it’ll be the start of February.

I haven’t been anywhere folky (for want of a better phrase) for a while, but there was no cuteness where I was. It might be different in the Big City, where folk dances are gonna be populated by horsey types (a good thing, btw).

(xpost)

ILM is pretty ridiculous nowadays. Stage 6a, though, innit

OK, I’m a big fat post-rock pretender.

JB, this folk dancing was in Bethnal Green so it was full of cute hipster girls and young nu folk types. I danced with a floppy-haired pointy-nosed friend of Ed’s and he didn’t even complain when I stepped on his toes!

(I am the world’s worst dancer, but my god, I don’t let that spoil my enjoyment of it.)

When everyone is feeling rubbish all at once, it makes me tempted to believe in astrology.

nah, it just reminds me that it’s Monday morning ;)

OMIGOD, I FORGOT TO EAT THE CHOCOLATE FROM MY ILL GOTTEN XMAS CALENDAR!!!!!

Is that rick wakeman with the wizard’s hat?

problem w/ilm for me is that I’ve said it all by now, and anything I post is just re-re-re-re-repeating myself.

I should have brought my little guitar in today, I’m bored.

I love that picture (wizards hat).

My brother just asked me what I want for Xmas. I feel like writing back and saying I don’t do Winter Consumerfest. Or asking for something that will really wind him up, since he was so rude about my mum’s Xmas present.

I have no idea what I want for Christmas, nor what to get anyone else. ‘cept my girlfriend, she is sorted out. I am so on the ball with that this year.

yes it is, I had to find a picture of old rick wakeman to reference with serious cat.

You danced with Henry is lovely, if bumbling, and has really hot sisters. I think Canadian lodge is becoming one of my favourite dances a proper mixup dance.

I have 3 days worth on my advent calender. I’ve eaten the 2nd, the 3rd and 4th will be eaten over the course of this afternoon.

Damn my country pumpkin roots! Why can’t I got to folk dances with cuteness, instead of folk dances with beardy old men covered in last year’s cider and inbred country types that look like extras in an english remake of Oh Brother where art thou?

Xmas presents—Ug! I’ve never been good at presents. As a child we didn’t really DO presents in our house, so I haven’t got in ingrained that I have to buy people things (I’m the same at b’days). As such, the whole thing seems like such a chore—I’d rather just go round and see people that I want to see and bake them cakes.

The problem for me is having my birthday directly after xmas, so people badger me about what I want for both xmas *and* my birthday.