Lattes & Funk

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-18T16:24:00.000Z

Merry Christmas everyone x

Awright, min

2010-01-18T00:09:00.000Z

Hello everyone!!

I am in Glasgow at the moment, going to audition for a masters course at the RSAMD. I have been to so many auditions in the last few months, I have become a bit disillutioned with it all. I really want to be the best singer I can possibly be, but after a few auditions where nothing comes to fruition one does begin to wonder what one is doing wrong. But nevermind, you just have to roll with the punches and keep going.

The Northfield AIYF Youth Singing Group is starting up again. Well, it actually started last Thursday but I am now going on a publicity blitz. We need to get some new singers into our little group. Please spread the word to any parents out there that have kids who like singing.

Group singing lessons! They are FREE!!! FREEEEEEE!!! Thursday nights 6pm - 7pm at the Northfield Community Centre, Byron Square.

Free singing lessons will be provided for children aged 8 - 14 yrs. They will receive guidance from professional musicians, choral conductors, visiting experts and volunteers.

The Northfield Youth Singing Group has been formed following a successful summer residency in June 2009. The group was formed by the Aberdeen International Youth Festival in collaboration with Glasgow singing group Little Larks and local community music and events company JCN Arts & Events. The regular weekly sessions will culminate in the Northfield Youth Singing Group performing as part of the Aberdeen International Youth Festival in 2010.

Cheers

Jayne x

Sweet

2009-11-13T09:55:00.000Z

I am getting more and more enquiries about singing lessons, invoices are being paid and the Northfield Youth Singing Group is working well. Today is the first day that I feel I have a real business :O

Things are looking good for my little venture, it's all quite exciting!

I am having a flatwarming on Saturday 14th and would like to invite Aberdeen Blogs :) I know most of you anyway. I don't want my place to be trashed or anything, but I think the worst offenders are already coming (billy) :p

2009-10-26T10:30:00.002Z

I just heard from one of my oldest and dearest friends, one of my buddies that got me through university. His mum passed away suddenly last week.

I think it would be inappropriate to go into details about my friend or his family, but I just wanted to write something.

She was a lovely woman, she was always really kind to me and it's a damn shame that she has gone.

The Northfield Youth Singing Group

2009-10-15T21:58:00.000+01:00

Ooooh well michty, I've been doing quite a lot in the past wee while.

He who likes jamming with bongos and I have now moved into our first little home, and it's wonderful.

I can't believe I managed to survive in our old place for so long. Our new gaff is really quiet, but like most things I didn't realise quite how noisy the old place was until we moved here. We have a shared garden with the other flats in the block. I don't care that it isn't ours exclusively, I can't wait until the summer and I can have impromptu barbeques :D

We also have a shed, and there are plans afoot for it to be the music hub of the Norrie estate, lol :) when it is done up I will give my singing lessons there, and there is enough space for it to be a jamming session space for our various musical exploits. We will also use it as the international hq for my wee company. I have registered as self employed and am selling my wares via the name JCN Arts & Events. Ooooh, exciting! I think a music-related company based on Abbey Road is quite apt, eh?

Which brings me to the Northfield Singing Group, I am one of the group leaders and I need to spread the word. Does anyone know of any children who enjoy singing?

'Even a man can do it'

2009-08-10T16:07:00.000+01:00

I'm beginning to think that some women totally suck.

First there is an advert on the telly for 'Oven Pride' which basically implies that all men are completely useless. It even goes so far as to say 'even a man can do it'. WTF?? If the proverbial shoe was on the other foot, all different shades of hell would break out. I wonder how many men are offended by these ads, but they kinda go 'meh' cos nobody seem to be backing their corner anymore.

Now Harriet Harman has thrown her own sexist comments into the ring, with her sweeping generalisations about how the investment banking sector would be better managed with the apparent clear-headedness of a woman. Sorry Ms. Harman, but have you ever worked in an all-girl office? Clear-headedness is certainly not the first word I would use to describe it. All people are different, and some work better in certain situations than others.

It seems to be that some women have come full circle, from being the oppressed to becoming the oppressor.
Equal opportunities isn't about getting rights for women and then belittling the opposite sex to make yourself look good. Its about respect for men and women and for everyone to have the same chance at achieving their goals if they work hard.

I'm really fed up of people thinking that it's ok to belittle men. Men are ace :D

Hey Fi

2009-07-10T01:42:00.001+01:00

I miss my best mate Fi, but she is coming back to the grey fortress of melancholy at the end of July. Hoorah!!

The last time I saw her was at my wedding which was in last October :(

Here's a wee clip from he who loves bass guitars and I's little trip to Houston to visit Fi, like, totally :)

Chow's Poker Night

2009-05-26T22:46:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone

I have tried to relax since I submitted my dissertation but now I am freaking out a bit about my final recital.

If anyone is free on 10th June at 11am, come down to the MacRobert Building and I'll sing you a wee tune :-)

In the mean time, if you are not doing anything tomorrow night, come down to The Tunnels.

Should be a larf :-D

Since the end of my degree is finally upon me, I am now thinking about what I am going to do afterwards. I am going to apply for an MMus in Music. Hey, there's probably no jobs out there anyway so I might as well keep on learning.

Other ideas I have include harassing Scottish Opera in a manner akin to the Shawshank Redemption when Andy sent a letter to get funding for the prison library. But in this instance I would be attempting to get some training with them rather than money. One letter a week for a year? It would certainly show that I was persistent but that may backfire spectacularly. I was inspired by the story of the guy who camped outside an oil company to that he could get a job. I wish I had that kind of bravery, maybe that is why I am thinking about doing something similar myself.

Help, someone please tell me this is a bad idea before I actually start doing it.

Huzzah!!

2009-05-09T19:02:00.001+01:00

Huzzah!!

I've finished my dissertation. Thank f*** for that. Thanks for all the offers of proof reading, but I didn't have everything totally finished until 4am the night before. Cheers to Billy for having a swatch at what I was doing. If you are like me and are a bit geeky when it comes to singing, maybe you would fancy having a look about here

I'm going to have a bit of a wee break before I start work for my final recital. I'm kinda the same as Cameron, there is a wee respite just now, woo hoo!!

Grammar hounds wanted

2009-03-31T19:56:00.001+01:00

Hey folks

A month has went past since my last post? Jeez...

I've finally got my scootay back on the road, hoorah!!

If you see a metallic purple vespa on the road, sorry I'm new, and I'm sure I will make some mistakes. It has been nice being able to go places and not have to ask he who has a gig at the Lemon Tree on Friday if he can chauffeur me.

Back on topic: I am doing a dissertation on vocal technique, and I need help. I got a good mark for a recent essay (18/20 or 90%). It's good that I can organise my thoughts, but I am no good at the editing process. My current misdemeanors include:

Colloquialisms: using 'you' instead of 'one' when describing how people should do stuff. Yes, they are that picky when it comes to dissertations.
Split infinitives. I don't even know what this is!
Sentence structures. Sometimes I know what I'm trying to say, but when I try to write it down, it is unclear and disjointed.
Basic grammar. I just plain suck at it. I get confused between what is a noun and a verb, sorry world.

So basically I am looking for people who will read my dissertation armed with their trusty red pen of doom, and tell me where all the mistakes are. I'm happy to pay people too, as it will be quite lengthy, ten thousand words.

Cheers!

The Brain Drain

2009-02-27T15:07:00.004Z

www.stopthecurfew.com

This was tagged on to a previous post, but I think that it has become more important.

I am fairly bummed about the demise of the Sunday Showcase and Misssy M's film club; two things which, to me, were signs of the creative tide turning in Aberdeen.

Huzzah, a new era for Aberdeen where creative people are valued and supported by Aberdeen City and Shire.

The curfew flies in the face of some good work by the Arts department in the City Council to create more dialogue between creative practitioners in the North-East and encourage cross discipline collaboration. Also to create a support network which is self sufficient in creating opportunities for itself.

The proposed curfew IMO does not tackle the real problem, which is of flocks of drunk people coming out of clubs all at once.

The Council should tackle the problem at the source, by penalising those licensees who serve alcohol to already-drunk people.
Conversely, they should reward responsible traders with extra opening hours. This blanket approach didn't work in Glasgow, didn't work in Edinburgh, so why do they think it will work here?
We bear in mind that seems to have been virtually no consultation with existing licensees on the proposed curfew, despite the fact that the FOI documents that I received specified that a consultation should be arranged before taking the proposal any further.
ACC have also ignored the initial suggestion by Aberdeen Taxis for the curfew to be one hour from closing and instead have made it 12.30pm for all pubs and clubs. Considering the lack of industry guidance on the issue and the suggestion by Aberdeen Taxis, there is no justification for the curfew to be that early.

I can't help but feel that this city was getting somewhere by means of supporting the arts, but now it is running a great risk of regressing.

Thanks to Andrew Learmonth and Misssy M and their work in
creating exposure for local bands and the North East in general.
They are two of only a few people that are trying to hold back
the tide; people with skills and artistry will probably want to pack
up and leave Aberdeen, and who can blame them.

Results

2009-02-26T12:29:00.001Z

I had a really nice birthday. It was far better than last year, which consisted of being in a recording studio/barn in the middle of nowhere, sitting around and getting bored.

When he who is going to shave his beard off and I were in Yatai I felt my head drooping like I was going to fall asleep, and I only felt better when I went outside for fresh air.

It was really strange, I haven't experienced anything like that before. I sorta felt a bit faint, and I felt a lot better when I got some food. Hmmm, perhaps I just didn't have enough to eat or something.

I got a good result for my essay: 18 out of 20, which equates to 90%.

But I got a 14 overall for the course, which is 70%. That means that the other thing that I was assessed on (presentation) must have got about 60% as the essay and presentation is 50/50 weighting in determining the final course mark.

60%! Come on, I had some really nice graphs and stuff :-(
Do bar charts count for nothing...?

In am now in my final term of uni, and if I get 75% or more in one of my two courses, then I think I will get a 2:1 honours degree.

Now, if only I could pull my finger out and get some work done...

Motivation is somewhat lacking at the moment.

I had a gig with Sumisumi last night and it was ace fun, it was a great experience to sing with Andy and Alan and I would love to do more.

I totally loved Drew from Wounded Knee, who was the other support act for The Flowers of Hell. His sets are mesmerising, absolutely beautiful. Up there with Thomas Truax is the 'totally loving a gig' stakes.

Oh and for those of you who are not aware, Aberdeen pubs and clubs will have a new curfew beginning in September where everyone will have to be in their place of boozing at 12.30pm. After that they will not be able to get entry to anywhere else!

From the info I have looked at from licensees in public forums virturally none of the licensees have been consulted in this process, and the council have ignored the initial request of a one hour curfew and changed it to 12.30pm with no justification.

Please consider signing the petition here or finding out more info with FOI documents here

Improv

2009-02-20T12:00:00.003Z

Roughly about 10 months ago, I did my first gig where I sang with absolutely nothing preprared. I was going to do 'improv'.

Needless to say, I was shitting my pants.

Funnily enoughm because I basically didn't stop singing for 20 minutes, I just launched myself into it and sang, or more appropriately, spoke, some strange things indeed. The patrons of The Tunnels were treated to such aural delights as:

'Matt, can you get my bag...Matt? Matt! Hellooooo, yeah my bag is under the table.'

'Andy!! Yoohoo, Andy! Andy!!!! Do you want a pint?'

Well it wasn't all complete nonsense, I sang little snippets of stuff that I have learned before, which ended up with me singing in french, german, italian latin and english by the end of it.

I was fair chuffed when the audience thought that we (Andy and I) were good. I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if they had asked for a refund or something. I had never been in that kind of situation before, and didn't know how anyone would react to what I had done.

Well Sumisumi is having another adventure, and this time we are also recruiting the talents of the Kitchen Cynics:

Come on down if you fancy something a bit different. Expect the unexpected!

Andy
Alan
Me

jam

2009-02-18T12:00:00.001Z

I have no lectures this term, which means that I have some spare time, woo hoo!!

One of the ideas that I have for getting more experience of collaborating with people is to form a collective.

he who is currently trying to sell a bass has joined as a kinda bass guitar craftsman and IT guy, I will compose stuff and my sister-in-law is going to paint the bass guitars. They will look pretty cool as each guitar will be its own work of art, huzzah!!

I have sent a proposal for an exhibition called Synaesthesia which looks at the interaction of art inspiring music, which inspires art again, and then you can see the sounds, ooooooh.

Haven't heard anything back yet, but I'm going to try Limousine Bull too.

The best part about new exhibitions is that there is always free wine on the first night.

Mixing it up

2009-02-16T16:32:00.005Z

http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/

It's not very often that I actually act upon one of my ideas...

This week I have booked some time in a recording studio to collaborate with my mate Colin who is a local music promoter and funk/hip-hop guy.

We are going to create a new hip-hop track, using a sample of 'Dies Irae' from Mozart's Requiem.

I know it sounds totally weird, but I have an idea in my head. It will be interesting to have a bit of experimentation and see what happens :-)

25 things

2009-02-03T10:43:00.051Z

I'm sure BTK asked me to do one of these things a while ago, but it was near my exams so I didn't bother.

I have a twin brother called Jamie, he is an insolvency practitioner.
My brother gave me away at my wedding last October as my dad couldn't make it due to ill health.
My brother is a lot more successful than I am, but he deserves it as he works hard.
I am currently emailing using the lappytron in my bedroom; I'm still in my jammies and it's 10.30am
I have just changed to Blogger in draft and I quite like it.
I am going to finish my music degree this summer, and think the current financial climate isn't exactly ideal for a graduate :-(
A lot of the facebook fans for my band Aka Ska seems to be people that have never seen the band; people from Argentina, Chile, Puero Rico, Brazil, all over Latin America.
I'm not sure why someone would become a fan of a band that they haven't heard.
I'm quite like trying Polish food. I buy some random stuff from the Costcutters on union street and market street. I really like jar of pickled red cabbage and polish pretzels are effin' amazing.
Polish cordial is well better than British cordial; there is less sugar and it actually tastes more of fruit.
I have some Polish dumplings in my fridge, and I'm not sure what you do with them. Are they an accompaniment or a main meal? What do you have them with?
I bought a 75p kazoo a while back and couldn't play it so I assumed it was broken. Then I bought a funcy £1.15 one from Bruce Millars and tried again to no avail. I gave it to my mate who works in the Tunnels and he could play it straight away! I need lessons in kazoo playing.
I sometimes work the odd shift in The Tunnels to help out. It's good for me as I get to hear local bands while earning some money, I did a lot of band shopping last year.
I love how the local music festivals, both Feugh Fest and Wizard, have helped to showcase the talent we have in Aberdeen and Grampian.
You have probably guessed this already, but I really love music and I love my job as an event manager. It's great seeing things coming together.
I think that Aberdeen is slowly waking up to the fact that there is a lot of talent up here, and there is no need to go down to Glasgow/Edinburgh/London to find opportunities. There has finally been a slow decline in the brain drain, and I think the area will soon have an arts scene that will be the envy of the country.
I really respect people who are honest. Being honest is sometimes the hardest thing to do, and I think you can be honest and disagree with someone or be critical without being offensive.
Going back to university is simultaneously the best and stupidest thing I have ever done. The best cos I love it so much, and can't think of anything other than music that I would enjoy more. The stupidest as I left my decently paid job at the council to pursue my ambition with no savings and no real means of supporting myself. Thank god for academic trusts and bursaries.
I am currently a fellow of the JTH Charitable Trust, the McGlashan Charitable Trust and the Stanley Picker Trust. Thank you, thank you, thank you, you are a true godsend.
Next week I am going to collaborate with an old mate to sample a passage for Mozart's Requiem and create a hip-hop track with it. Excitement!!
I want to save up to buy a loop pedal and start writing songs.
I have composed a piece in two movements for piano and SATB choir inspired by Rememberence Sunday. It's not finished yet, just needs the odd tweak.
For the past few weeks I have had a terrible time with my sleeping patterns. Sometimes I can't sleep at all cos I'm thinking too much, other times I will literally sleep the whole day. My singing teacher said that I am a bit depressed after all the stress of the past year and it's like a big comedown. I think she is right, it's like I'm trying to hibernate or something.
I will really need to get more disciplined with myself if I am going to write my dissertation. I have made GANTT charts and everything!
I like Office 2007, but Powerpoint is a real pain in the arse, 2003 powerpoint was better.

Gig review: Ska frenzy at Cafe Drummonds with Famous Ape, Peg & the Bouffants, Big Hand.

2009-02-02T23:49:00.004Z

I am partial to a bit of ska, so this night appealed to me right away.
First band up to kick off the night was our local young ska monger Famous Ape.
They are a young band, but don't hold that against them. I have saw them a few times and their gigs are always good. Two guitars, bass, drums, and three piece horn section - you can tell they really know their stuff and love ska music :-)
Next up was the crazy Peg & the Bouffants

The two girls that front the band are completely crazy, CRAZY I tells ya. But they are absolutely lovely and such a great laugh :-) They don't just play their set and bugger off like some bands do, they party for the whole night and then some. Both of the girls are very pretty, so they have a flock of young gentlemen that are fascinated by them, being all vivacious and full of fun.
Their set was amazing, Peg the guitarist, the bassist, the drummer and the sax player are a great band. They let the girls get on with fronting the show while they concentrate on the very tight music.

all photos displayed with kind permission from DM Photography

The favourite bits for me was when they covered 'Push It' by Salt n Pepa and their own song 'Deceiter' which really got the crowd going.
I thought Big Hand would struggle to match the energy of Peg et al, but they were equally as deranged and musically brilliant:

The trumpet guy kept on jumping off stage and into the crowd, dancing with strangers and checking out girls :-) The bassist was moving around theatrically and doing the occasional pelvic thrust when he had his leg up on the monitors, class.
They are a great band and they were well matched with Peg & the Bouffants as both bands have a great sense of fun.
I don't know if I was in an nostalgic mood that night, but my favourite song from Big Hand was their cover of 'Ice Ice Baby' by Vanilla Ice which they played slowed down in a rocksteady rhythm. When you read it I'm sure that you would think it would sound crud, but trust me it works!! This was also when the girls from Peg & the Bouffants went up on stage and started ~~dancing~~ gyrating to the song.
Quality night, such a great laugh. Go and see them!

Imagination, or lack thereof

2009-01-21T20:51:00.000Z

Some of my friends think that I'm married now, that I'm just going to stay at home and start breeding. I would love to have kids one day, but I have some other stuff that I would like to do first of all, like get some decent qualifications.

I recently had a voluntary placement at a local primary school as a visiting musician. One of the games involved asking the children what noises they heard during their holidays.

I don't mean to be an old fuddy-duddy, but I was shocked at how many kids told me about playing games on their latest computer game, whether that was from the Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox, blah.

It concerns me, and I don't really know why. I think it's because I worry that these children aren't really doing anything else besides playing computer games. I have a Wii at home and think playing computer games can be a good
laugh, but I wonder what these children are missing out on if they are
always playing these games.

If that is the case, I imagine that these children will grow up to have no imagination and very limited social skills.

Do children go outside and play anymore? Or has our scaremongering society have parents so afraid of something bad happening to their kids that they are now kept inside? In my opinion, playing is very important as it gives kids their own sense of risk and danger eg. don't do that, you will fall.

Do children make anything anymore? Ok so I clearly love music, but any activity such as arts and crafts, drama, etc. can help a lot to give children confidence and self esteem.

Do children interact with other children and adults anymore? If a child is always in front of a TV or games console, realistically how much experience do they have of having a conversation? How often do they have a one-to-one chat with their parents and/or peers?

It makes me wonder how some children are being brought up, and I feel sorry for them if they are always in front of a screen.

I would love to hear thoughts from people about this, especially those with kids.

music and morality

2009-01-20T12:00:00.000Z

photo shown with kind permission of Lyncean Photography

he who is always making basses and I were watching a documentary on BBC Four about the history of prog rock, and I was intruiged to learn about the varying fortunes of all the musicians from that era.

It got me thinking:

Can you morally justify listening to and enjoying a piece of music if the composer was a horrible person?

Does the music itself take on a life of its own?

Can we appreciate its beauty irrespective of the failings of the person who wrote it?

Wagner composed some very beautiful, dramatic music and his use of leitmotif inspired the composition of film scores for a whole new generation of composers. His most famous piece of music is 'Ride of the Valkyries'. His music was even used in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. But Wagner was an anti-semite and wrote essays on how the work of Jewish composers were inferior to his German counterparts. Only a few months ago I heard 'Ride of the Valkyries' on an advert for nappies!! Come on!!!
Gary Glitter. I don't think anyone in their right mind would go into a record shop and ask for some of his music.

Can music live on if its creator was a moral vacuum?

little rant

2009-01-17T23:51:00.001Z

Hey everyone

One of the main things that I do apart from uni is that I am the Event Manager of Feugh Fest:

I don't expect for people brown-nose me, but I expect at least a small degree of professionalism...

is there anychance my band *** can get on the festival this year?

hope you can help me out

write back

*********

Here's a hint to anyone that is looking for a gig in any festival or venue in Scotland. Start by being polite and introducing yourself and describing what you do. Don't pretend to be my best mate when you are a total stranger. Give me details of somewhere I can hear demos and info, and maybe some idea of what gigs you have had.

Or am I asking too much?

Dear Postie: Update

2009-01-08T19:30:00.003Z

Some of our American counterparts have clearly been reading my blog:

I looked at the front and thought 'Oh, how nice, it's from Josh and Sara'.

But then I looked at the back

I guess sometimes your blog posts can bite you on the ass :-)

The day after we receive this, he who has now grown a beard hears a knock at the door.

It's the postie, asking us 'Are you bored yet?'

Annual Assessment

2009-01-06T17:53:00.007Z

I did this kind of thing in a previous post : Annual Assessment

In the spirit of the great writer Stuart MacBeard, I will make a silly chart :-)

Things to note:

There seems to be a direct colleration between consumption of caffeine and stress.
When I am worrying about stuff, cooking from scratch goes out the window.
I spend a lot of time during exam time (late Jan and early June) having no concentration and worrying endlessly.
Highlights include my holiday to Houston to visit my best friend during Easter.
I organised a music festival in late August, which explains high anxiety and low happiness.
I got married in October. It was lovely, but I hope I don't have to do it again.
I was feeling pretty skint at the end of this year, but just recently got news of two new scholarships. Thank you, JTH Trust and the McGlashan Charitable Trust.
I had some fun over the summer with Aka Ska by playing at the Wickerman festival.
My birthday is at the end of February.

My year has had it's fair share of ups and downs, I hope that 2009 will be fun but hopefully a bit less stressful. Having said that, I will have finished my degree this year and I am about to embark on looking for a job in the worst financial climate possible....

Possibly the best music poster ever...

2008-12-17T20:55:00.000Z

Dear Postie...

2008-12-16T20:55:00.001Z

Since I have recently just got married, I have inherited some new relatives. This idea comes from one of my new aunties, and I thought that it was such a great idea that I would nick it wholesale.

New auntie that lives in the country is a very lovely and kind-hearted woman, but god bless her she is just a little bit crazy. She has little eccentricities which make her loveable, like the one that she does with the Postie.

For those of you non-teuchter people out there, I am referring to the postman or post-person or whatever. New auntie will give out cards for birthdays, wedding, anniveraries, etc and will always write a note for the postie on it:

Dear Postie

This is an anniversary card, so please don't deliver this in the morning. I think they will want a lie-in, if you know what I mean *nudge nudge, wink, wink*

Dear Postie

This is a birthday card for my sister. She is getting on a bit now, so could you please check that she hasn't been eaten by her cats and that she isn't dribbling into her porridge.

I think that everyone who hasn't sent out their Christmas cards yet should send them out with a wee message for the Postie. Compared to the messages from New Auntie, mine will be quite tame!

C'mon Aberdeen Blogs, let's spread the word of Dear Postie and spread some Christmas cheer :-)

Going to prison

2008-12-15T11:32:00.001Z

Another one of the traditonal singing engagements that I do at this time of year is to meet up

with the Chapel Choir and sing Christmas carols to the little tots that have come to see Santa at the Elphinstone Hall. This is great fun and we get to load up on mulled wine and mince pies.

Then we all swiftly hop on a bus and it's off to Peterhead prison...

please don't forget me!

There's nothing quite like going into a maximum security prison filled with sex offenders to make you feel that your lot in life isn't so bad.

The choir has to go through all the normal security checks at the prison and are escorted by the staff, but where the security staff have cosy looking gilets and waterproof jackets, we have bright purple cotton choir gowns which act as windsocks, which makes for fighting with the wind an incredibly challenging and soggy experience.

For me, the weirdest thing about going to the prison is the way that the prisoners bring in their own chairs for the concert and then they kinda stare at you before concert begins. I don't know, is it a defensive manoevre? Do they think that we are judging them? But all of the prisoners lighten up and are as nice as pie once the concert starts. Maybe they are just waiting contently until they get to sing 'Ding dong, merrily on high'.

There are also some precious moments in the christmas carols:

'God rest, ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay
For Jesus Christ our saviour was born upon this day.
To save us all from satan's power when we have gone astray...'

OMG, I don't know where to look.
You might as well do a little dance in front of them exclaiming 'you're a baddie!'

New music group

2008-12-13T11:00:00.000Z

Last wednesday was quite, er, interesting...

The university new music group is dedicated to performing works by new (or relatively new) composers from the 20th century onwards. During the concert at Kings College Chapel we were treated to a night of John Cage.

I don't know if you know much about John Cage, but he is the composer that is most famous for his work 4"33

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJagb7hL0E

The funniest thing is that people try to not make a sound during the piece, and inbetween the movements you hear the culmination of all the coughs and splutters that people have been holding in for the past few minutes :-)

We were treated to some great John Cage pieces such as 'Scottish Circus', which it as times quite melodic, and sometimes it is all over the place!

There was also 'Litany for the whale' which was for four voices placed at different parts of the hall. The music was composed so that it should sound like whale song, and it was even better in the echoey acoustic of Kings.

Then there was the piece for four transistor radios. Even though with all these pieces you could go into a debate about whether or not it is music, this particluar performance of the transistor radios was just great. It was great simply for the fact that when one radio was 'playing' solo, it tuned into Northsound 1 and by sheer coincidence there was a news report on at the same time. I thought it was great as from this one excerpt of the performance you had a great sense of time and place.

Well done New Music Group, your concert was great fun

Wii Music

2008-12-11T16:00:00.000Z

Wii Music is ace fun

Much like Mark was chatting about some musicy game on the XBox, I have become quite taken with the music game on the Wii. It's fun to do a 'jam' session and stuff like that. The little maestro guy (complete with baroque wig) speaks in his own little language, which sounds a bit like Italian. He makes me giggle every time he says something :-)

I tried the listening tests and got up to level 7, but then it starts to get really really hard. Doesn't help that I had a few beers before doing it, I'm sure that alcohol must affect your ears somehow.

I have become quite fond of our Wii in general, and he who smugly reminds me that buying the Wii was his idea and I have had a few cheap nights in with our mates while playing the games on it. Ideal if you are trying to save up for your first house like we are.

I also keep in touch with my best mate over in yankland. I phone her on the lappytron using skype and chat to her while we are both playing Mariokart on the Wii. The best thing about it is that it doesn't cost a penny, huzzah!!

Think of a Wii as an investment, you will have more fun at home and will be less likely to go off to the pub and spend loads of money :P

It's that time again..

2008-12-08T16:28:00.000Z

The time of the year when I hum and haw about whether or not I should enter into a singing competition.

BBC - Wales - Cardiff Singer of the World 2007

I have been offered an audition, but it's on the 17th and I feel really under-prepared.

But then again, I went to the audition two years ago knowing full well that I didn't have enough experience to get through to the next round, but I went anyway.

Don't suppose anyone has any advice they could offer me?

Should I do it?

Not long now...

2008-12-03T21:53:00.001Z

This term at uni has seemed to whizz past, I can't believe that is us nearly finished for Christmas!!

I can't wait to spend some time at Christmas just clearing up the backlog of stuff that has been neglected: tidying things up, funding applications, doing a deep clean of the house, organising things, blah.

I really, really, really don't want a busy Christmas this year, though I do want to see my family and friends at some point. Sometimes I think ' I need a break, otherwise I'm going to go mental' and other times I feel selfish for wanting time to myself in order to clear this backlog of things I must do.

Does anyone else have this 'push and pull' feeling at this time of year?

That's the life that I've signed up for I suppose. Being a musician means that you are always going to be juggling about a dozen things at once, and you are always going to be a little bit wrong in whatever you do, by being self critical.

But nevermind, sopranos always do it on top, lol ;-)

This one's for Sticker...

2008-11-29T12:00:00.000Z

Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, mushroom, mushroom!!!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GOxR7rTYuSI

the new sisters

2008-11-27T12:00:00.001Z

Humph

My new sisters are both thin and gorgeous, and I feel like a podgy git when I am around them. Worst of all, they are really nice and I love them to bits. Don't you just hate that?

I have never had sisters before. What do you you do when they give you a showing up every time you meet them because they are two dress sizes smaller than you? I am assuming that you can't run up to them and give them a dead arm like I would with my bro...

Oh, and they always look lovely, whereas I am a bit of a scruff at the best of times.

I have been doing more exercise in a bid to lose chub but that size 10 is proving more elusive that I originally thought....

The Alexander Technique

2008-11-25T12:00:00.002Z

This is a bit of a geeky post...

I have decided that my dissertation is going to be on vocal technique. I thought that this would be the safest option for me as I am quite interested in this topic, it is relevant to what I am doing ( I am a singer after all) and I think that I will actually want to do the work on it. One of the staff at uni tried to convince me to do a dissertation on a composer. Sorry, but writing about some people who lived a couple of hundred years ago will just bore the arse off me.

Within the realm of vocal technique, I am particularly interested in learning more about the Alexander Technique. Created by Australian singer FM Alexander at the beginning of the 20th century, the technique developed from Alexander's attempts to improve his own singing ability. By looking at himself in mirrors while he sang, he noticed that he would pull his chin into his chest while he sang, which constricted his airflow and put a lot of pressure on his larynx. Basically this is really bad news if you are a singer as it puts unnecessary pressure on your throat and can over time totally wreck your voice. The worse thing about it was that he didn't even realise that he was doing it!

The Alexander Technique is a very interesting approach, as its use can apply to anyone in everyday life. It doesn't matter what it is you are doing, it all stems from improper use or unnatural use of your body. The Alexander Technique works in two main ways:

* Eliminating bad habits that you have adopted in terms of use of your body. This could be something that you are not aware of, and only an outside observer or a bunch or mirrors will spot it :-)

* Encouraging proper use of the body, which indirectly improves your ability to do tasks ie. sing, play an instrument, etc.

One of the most interesting things that I have learned is that Alexander Technique has helped a lot of people with health problems. Alexander viewed that a lot of conditions that people had stemmed from 'bad use' of their body. The technique has helped people who suffer from autism, back problems, ME and stress related disorders, amazing.

I have went to a couple of lessons with an Alexander teacher, I didn't realise how relaxing the process would be! It has helped to be more aware of what I do with my body. The strange thing is that you have to persevere; I slouch quite a lot when I sit so I have been trying to sit naturally, and it all feels a bit weird because I am not used to it.

The best 15p I have ever spent....

2008-11-23T18:29:00.001Z

For a limited time only at High Street, Old Aberdeen.

Album Review: Popup - A Time and a Place

2008-11-17T12:00:00.001Z

Verdict: *****

5 stars: Barack Obama 4 stars: Hilary Clinton 3 stars: Condoleeza Rice
2 stars: John McCain 1 star: Sarah Palin

www.myspace.com/popuptheband

Popup – A Time and a Place

This Glaswegian four piece remain the stuff of legend up in Banchory after their amazing set supporting the Brand New Heavies at this year’s Feugh Fest. Popup are nothing if not direct, but at the same time delivery the heady concoction of friendliness and grisly attitude that only a weegie can deliver. The first song in the album, Love Triangle brings the talents of Damian’s vocals to the fore. There is considerable power in this song from the palatable anguish conveys in Damian’s delivery and the restrained bass riff.

All photography shown with kind permission of Nutty Photography: www.nuttyphotography.co.uk

Poison Apple shows the boisterous side of the band and their knack for tongue-in-cheek storytelling, as does the catchy Stagecoach. In Stagecoach their technical skill is shown as this song is in 3-4 time and has a great waltz feel to it. ‘and so she’ll say/there’s five different buses each day/and every time I walk away I know/I know I’ve missed it again.’ Then if that wasn’t to perk up the ears of people to enjoy folk who know their craft, they go into a four-part vocal cannon! The short percussive bursts from the guitar hint at the underlying absurdity of it all.

The Savior of Judas Mcdade is a slower song which delivers introspective melancholy which somehow sounds like a cross between Deacon Blue and Radiohead. With close two part harmonies between Damian and drummer Adrienne, Popup go one better than those bands by keeping it restrained and simple.

On the other end of the spectrum we have Chinese Burn.

I predict that this song will be the feel good anthem for festival goers of 2009.

Chinese Burn is an in-your-face attitude song; our little group of protagonists are clearly pissed off and are lashing out against despondency and has one of the most catchy distorted guitar riffs that I have ever heard: ‘You can’t get to sleep/you can’t get a fix/I don’t know what the f**k you’re doing here / But I can’t be f**ked with your tricks.’

Another contrast now with What’s the matter now? which feature a deluge of lyrics and quick guitar chords which is almost George Formby-like in its execution. Coupled with the cheeky use of toms and little percussion solos, we hear about a farcical relationship, and a boy that doesn’t have any backbone: ‘This is a story of questions and answers/ and war wounds that just can’t be solved/ As there’s good love and bad love/and unless you’ve had both I just wouldn’t get too involved.’

In her day is a prime example of what makes Popup great. They have the amazing agility; they can couple a distinctively grungey reverbed guitar solo with a bossa nova drum beat and it sounds great. They also aren’t afraid to pare it down. Often Damian is singing unaccompanied, almost like a descant over the top while drums, bass and guitar give short energetic burst of rhythm. This song is a great demonstration of what Popup bring to their songs, they give off an effervescence and suck you in. This band has the same great rhythmical discipline that the Rolling Stones have, and it hasn’t done them any harm.

Herein lies the magic of Popup. There are so many different styles of music in this album, with different subject matter and different attitudes they are clearly not influenced by one band, or even one genre. Could you pin down the sound of Franz Ferndinand? You can’t, they are just Franz. Well, this is just Popup; they take you on a musical journey and A Time and a Place is so much more than the sum of its parts.

Like Oasis is arguably deemed the music of Manchester, and the Beatles of Liverpool, Popup encapsulate the sometimes self-effacing, sometimes in-your-face dichotomy of Glasgow.

Popup are a band of dry humour and sincerity, who write what they know and write it well. Like a person you have just met but feel that you have known for years, their songs are approachable and yet reassuring in the same instance. A Time and a Place breathes life into the seemingly mundane and will strike a chord with anyone who has stuggled with the juxtaposition between tolerance and understanding on one hand, and fighting your corner on the other.

Sax Fest

2008-11-15T17:25:00.000Z

This is festival for saxophones, don't get too excited :-)

As I have mentioned before my course encourages us to get involved in local music projects, so my classmates and I have been helping out at the Sound Festival.

This weekend was awesome: Saturday at the university which had a whole day of workshops for saxophonists. These workshops were immensely popular, and covered all range of genres and abilities. We had beginners saxphone for more classical learners, right up to advanced jazz improvisation.

My experience in bands helped a bit as I utilised my roadie skills :-) I was being a general dogsbody and making photocopies for people, getting water, helping to humph drumkit stands, finding the key to unlock the padlock for the piano, etc. Being a music student isn't quite the glamorous pursuit that people think it is!

I was fair chuffed with myself though. I took along a few bits of kit as I knew that youngsters would be along for some workshops. I assumed that at least one of them would forget something, so I brought along some cables, spare sax reeds, a tuner, etc. It wasn't one of the youngsters, but one of the tutors that forgot stuff. There was a bit of miscommunication somewhere along the line, and so the bass guitar tutor came along without a bass guitar. Oh s***. We managed to find a bass guitar from the music department instrument cupboard, but nobody had a spare cable.

Along comes Jayne to save the day!! :-)

One of the cables that I had brought was a jack-to-jack cable, exactly what was needed for the tutor to attach the bass to his amp.

I hope that my professor at uni gets wind of this little story, maybe it will help me on my way to a good mark :-)

The Classical Connection

2008-11-13T17:22:00.000Z

This is one of the little things that I get up to every week during term, it's loads of fun :-)

The Classical Connection is the name for my radio show which on Mondays and Thursdays on Aberdeen Student Radio at 11am: www.abdn.ac.uk/asr

The past few weeks have been ace, as we have had some guests from the Sound Festival to tell us about their experiences being a guest at the university and what it is like to be a professional musician. I listen to them most intently, as this is what I would like to be when all this university malarkey is over :-)

One of my courses at uni concentrates on being involved in local outreach projects and getting involved in the community. This is the favourite part of my degree programme, as a lot of the voluntary work that I do now counts for something, and will help me towards my final grade for this course. Sweet!! Over the next couple of weeks I will have some more musician guests and also some guest co-presenters in the form of other music students at Aberdeen.

Does anyone have any special requests?
Or is anyone interested in becoming a guest presenter for a day?

Pearl Jammin - The Moorings

2008-11-10T00:04:00.000Z

Matt and I fancied going along to this gig as his mate plays in the band. In case you hadn't guessed already, Pearl Jammin is a Pearl Jam tribute band, and man do they rock!! I don't know much at all about Pearl Jam, but that didn't matter I still really enjoyed myself.

The Moorings is a great wee place to get a beer; the prices are pretty decent and they have a huge range of weird beers to choose from. My fave is Kastel Kru, which is a light wheat beer which is fermented in champagne casks, mmmm :-)

Loads of fun was had by myself, steve, laura, sion and robert. And lo, there was much throwing of goats and sweaty shenanigans. Huzzah!

Richard Craig - Sound Festival

2008-11-08T13:40:00.000Z

This is my cool t-shirt that i made for one of my gigs, but I thought that I would share it with everyone ;-)

This recital, which is part of the Aberdeenshire-wide Sound festival, was originally going to be performed by Robert Fabbriciani. I don't know much about the flute, but I have been reliably informed that he is one of the foremost flautists of his generation. It's a shame that he couldn't make it along to the recital in Zeste, but RSAMD graduate Richard Craig gave an amazing performance.

Richard himself is greatly inspired by Roberto Fabbriciani, and his legacy of greatly expanding the musical repertoire for flautists. Roberto has done this by having close musical exchanges with composers, who have often made new music specifically for Roberto. Richard's recital was filled with pieces that were a result of a direct influence by roberto, or were inspired by his performances.

I personally feel that of all the instruments in the orchestra, I think that the flute suffers from the worst stereotypes being forced upon it.

A lot of people think of the flute as being very light and pretty, and simply not capable of sounding strong, powerful or musically versatile. Such was the skill of Richard Craig at this recital, he showed everyone there just what the flute could do, and produced nuances and sounds that I didn't think were possible.

The first thing I did after the recital was over was to look at the scores. When pieces are very complicated, the scores will not mean anything to people who are not experienced musicians, but they are pretty in themselves. I wanted to take a copy of part of the score to show people how frantic and beautiful the score was, but I don't want to get sued for copyright infringement :-)

Well done Richard, I will look forward to hearing you again, and you can startle me some more with your strange other-wordly sounds.

Skalloween III: Aka-ska, The Hi jacks, Peg & the Bouffants

2008-11-04T17:30:00.002Z

What can I say, this was an absolutely cracking night. The legend lives on !!! :-)

lovely band photo courtesy of DM Photography

The good photo is published with kind permission from DM Photography - Aberdeen's best music photographer. All the crap ones below were taken by me :-) www.myspace.com/dmphotographyaberdeen

The view behind the mixing desk

on stage during the gig :-)

stephen minus his copper's clobber

the two crazy, lovely girls from Peg & the Bouffants in Dundee. Great gig girls, love the costumes! Who is the sweaty man beside you?

Special mention goes out to one of the guys who was at the Lemon Tree. Tupper travelled over 500 miles to come and see us play, god bless you my friend.

Can't wait 'till next year!!

Musical Pub Crawl - Dublin

2008-11-04T15:42:00.005Z

Shortly after Matt and I got married, we headed off for a few days to Dublin.

Everyone has to go there!! There are so many things to do, places to go, restaurants to try, that I was annoyed that we only had a weekend there.

One of the highlights of our little stay in Dublin (apart from going to the Guinness factory) was the musical pub crawl.

The Musical Pub Crawl starts in a very famous pub in Dublin: Oliver St. John Gogarty's in the Temple Bar area. The first time that I went to Dublin I had heard of Temple Bar, but I thought it was actually the name of pub. Turns out that it's a whole area of Dublin, now dubbed the cultural quarter. It is only a few streets across, but it is crammed full of pubs, restaurants and things to do. The cobbled streets give it a very quaint and welcoming feel. The same with Gogarty's, which even during the week was absolutely heaving.

The musical pub crawl was headed by two local traditional musicians; Owen playing the Irish pipes and Mike on the guitar. Both guys had spent their whole lives in Dublin and the surrounding area, and after a few songs at Gogarty's they deliberately kept the group away from the tourist traps and showed us what real Irish pubs looked like. The next pub on our tour was the Ha'penny Bridge Inn, which was much like some pubs in Aberdeen. Basically what i would describe as an 'old manny pub', like the Prince of Wales or The Grill. Owen and Mike were excellent musicians, and played loads of traditional songs.

Owen also talked about the Irish pipes for a bit, they are incredibly complicated as you use your fingers for the chanter (the stick bit that looks like a recorder) and your wrists to play notes on the drone!!!

What I liked the most about the pub crawl was that they got people involved in the music. Owen and Mike showed us that Irish music is an aural tradition that is passed from generation to generation by people playing to one another.

Near the end of the night when everyone had had some time to neck a few pints, they asked for people to 'give us a song'. One Australian man sang a nice little song about ' an old rocking chair' or something, it was a good laugh. I ventured a song that I learned from my singing teacher called 'Durisdeer' by Lady John Scott. I was a bit pissed at this stage and a bit nervous about singing in front of these great musicians, so basically my singing was a bit pants but hey, I got through it.

Skalloween III: Aka-ska, The Hi jacks, Peg & the Bouffants

2008-10-25T16:59:00.003+01:00

This night is now the stuff of legend...

I am in two local covers bands, one playing soul/funk called Beat Street and the other playing ska called Aka-Ska.

My band has had a great year, playing in The Tunnels and having a residency in Cafe Drummonds. We have also played in two music festivals: Feugh Fest on the main stage and in the Scooter Tent of Wickerman. We have also supported a lot of ska legends, such as Bad Manners, The Beat, Neville Staples, The Big and the Amphetameanies.

If you guys are going to be in Aberdeen during Halloween, make sure you make your way down to Skalloween III at the re-opened Lemon Tree. As you expect of this highlight in the Aberdeen gigging calendar, we will be giving away prizes for the best costumes and supplementing our set list with some spooky songs to get the crowd going. We will also be going with the tradition of the band dressing up for Skalloween, but our outfits will be kept under wraps ('scuse the pun) until Friday night.

Until then, my friends.

Jayne x

For Misssy M

2008-10-24T16:10:00.003+01:00

Hey Gringo

You think you are the best woman with a 'tash?

Bring it on!!

'Tash off!

Vegas, baby!!

2008-10-24T16:04:00.001+01:00

Let me give you some background info about this unusual choice of wedding reception theme...

Matt and I along with our good friends Steve, Laura, Fiona and Campbell all loved this club called Vegas!! which was held every three months or so at The Forum in Aberdeen.

This was the place to be for swingers; and I mean the music kind, not the 'car keys in a bowl' kind.

The Vegas night was absolutely brilliant; you got fake vegas dollars as part of your admission fee which you could use to play the roulette table or black jack.

The music was inspired, and covered everything from the sixties Vegas era, from latin jazz to ratpack to Elvis, swing, easy listening and beyond. It was just a great laugh, the atmosphere was helped a lot by the couple of showgirls that they would have every night, and they helped to get everyone dancing.

The best part of Vegas for me was that people from all ages and backgrounds went to Vegas. In what other club night do you see a married couple in their 80s dancing alongside a bunch of girls on their hen night and a bunch of students out on the razz?

Unfortunately (for us), the people that do Vegas now have their own club in Edinburgh and haven't ventured up north since its opening. Such was our sadness that our Vegas days had come to an end, we decided that we would like to recreate it for our wedding reception.

The other things that Matt and I wanted was for our wedding to be personal. We wanted for our wedding festivities to be held in places that meant something to us. That is why we had the wedding ceremony at Kings College Chapel, as we are both involved in the community there.

By the same reasoning, that is why we also decided to hold our wedding reception at The Tunnels. Yet another controversial choice and one that I think some guests at our wedding weren't sure of, as it is actually a live music venue. Well, The Tunnels certainly put the doubters in their place. I could not have wished for a better wedding reception. Here is a list of the things that The Tunnels staff did to make it brilliant:

The whole place was cleaned from top to bottom, and the reception room smelled lovely using scented candles.

They made seperate dishes for the children, veggies and a completely seperate menu for one of my friends that has a lot of allergies.

All of the food was gorgeous; I have lost count of how many comments I have received about the quality of the food.

The main meals were served on plates that were piping hot, so even if people had to faff about a bit before their meal it was still hot by the time they got to it.
One of my relatives had to go away for a while for his job, but they kept his dinner aside and kept it warm for him until his return.

The desserts were massive.

They set up Tunnel 1 for the Vegas night and Tunnel 2 as a quiet room where people could chat. Later on they served some macaroni cheese, stovies and chilli for our evening guests.

The Vegas theme was used straight away, as our guests received a poker chip when they arrived which could be redeemed at the bar for their first drink of the night.

The Tunnels staff helped us distribute our little Vegas dollars and our wedding favours,which were a set of four tealights which had the four card suits on them :-)

poker table

roulette

black jack

Michael Buble - Can't Buy Me Love (swing version of the Beatle's classic)
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Go Daddy 'O
Ray Gelato - Tu Vuo 'Fa L'Americano
Elvis Presley - Devil in Disguise
Elvis Presley - Viva Las Vegas
Paul Anka - Mr. Brightside (swing version of the song by The Killers)
Rosemary Clooney - Mambo Italiano
Liza Minelli - You Are the Sunshine of my Life
Dean Martin - Ain't that a kick in the head
Frank Sinatra & Sammy Davis Jnr - Me and my shadow ( our first dance)
Frank Sinatra - You make me feel so young
Frank Sinatra - Come Fly with me
Frank Sinatra - Fly me to the Moon
Michael Buble - I've got you under my skin
Frank Sinatra - The coffee song
Dean Martin - Sway
Glenn Miller - Chattanooga Choo Choo
Glenn Miller - In the Mood
Cab Calloway - Minnie the Moocher
Nina Simone - My baby just cares for me
Van Morrison - Moondance
Perez Prado and his orchestra - Guaglione (from the infamous Guinness ad)
Tito Puente & his latin ensemble - Take Five
Harry Connick Jnr - Recipe for Love
Harry Connick Jnr - We Are in Love
Bobby Darin - Beyond The Sea
Perry Como - Papa Loves Mambo

Swing on, Daddy O :-)

For future brides

2008-10-19T23:16:00.002+01:00

Hey folks

I'm just back from experiencing the best day of my life, getting married to my lovely man.

For me, the strangest feeling on my wedding day that I didn't really expect was that of being overwhelmed. Yeah I knew that I would be nervous, but I didn't bargain on feeling overwhelmed by everyone's generosity and kindness. There were so much more people at my wedding and reception than what I expected, and they were all so happy for me, most of the time I felt like I was going to cry. I can't think of a way of saying this without seeming egotistical, but I honestly didn't think that I people held me in such high regard. I'm fair chuffed :-)

But anyhoo, back to the reason of my post. I wanted to give some hints and tips to future brides regarding music at their wedding. I will just list the things that I did for our ceremony and give some reasons why I chose it. Music is a big part of my life as Matt and I enjoy it a lot, but for other brides they may like music but may not really know what to go for on their special day.

Processional: Sanctus, movement from a Requiem Composer: Maurice Durufle

I think this raised a few eyebrows amongst my choir mates when I announced that I would like them to sing this, as a Requiem is a piece which is usually reserved for funerals. However, this movement didn't mention death in it and the music is particularly beautiful and set a great tone for the beginning of the ceremony. I'm going to geek out a wee bit and roughly translate the latin:

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis

which means:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Hymn: 'Praise my soul, the King of Heaven'

A great hymn for weddings as it is very melodic. It is particularly good if you have a lot of people coming to your wedding that may not know many hymns. Chances are they would have heard the tune to this hymn before; if they haven't, they will find it easy to pick it up and sing along.

Hymn: Let us build a house where love can dwell

This is a lesser known hymn. It is from a non-denominational Christian hymnbook called 'Common Ground' and it is quite a modern hymn. I absolutely love this, it is definitely one of my favourites. Perhaps I was taking a bit a of a risk with this one as most people won't know it, but I just couldn't help myself, the words are just so beautiful, and very appropriate for a wedding:

Let us build a house where love can dwell
And all can safely live,
A place where saints and children tell
How hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions;
Rock of faith and vault of grace;
Here the love of all shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
All are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where hands will reach
Beyond the wood and stone
To heal and strengthen, serve and teach,
And live the word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger
Bear the image of love’s face;
Let us bring an end to fear and danger:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
All are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where all are named,
Their songs and visions heard
And loved and treasured, taught and claimed
As words within the word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter,
Prayers of faith and songs of grace;
Let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
All are welcome in this place.

All I can say is, that I got to the third verse and I started to cry :-)

Recessional: Lift your heads, o ye gates, movement from The Messiah Composer: George F. Handel

Another choral favourite of mine. The Messiah is immensely popular piece, any choir worth their salt should be able to sing this without much preparation as they should have it firmly in their repertoire. This was a great one to end with as it is quite upbeat and cheery.

I did quite a bit of research before I chose these pieces of music. I had to consider what would be easy for the choir to learn, what would be easy for our guests to sing, what would set the right tone.

I can't emphasise this enough brides-to-be, please get a choir if you can. They don't need to be professional singers, the choir at my wedding was made of enthusiastic amateurs and they were excellent. The sound of the voices at the ceremony was just magical, and a lot of our guests commented on how helpful the choir was to them; they sang the hymns with their strong voices and helped to guide the congregation in their singing.

I am being whisked away for a little honeymoon, but in my next post I will cover what we did at our reception...

Cheers

Jayne

Disco!!

2008-07-14T22:16:00.003+01:00

Hey guys

This is one for all those wannabe disco divas out there, me included.

The Return of Decadence - a night that celebrates the infamous New York club Studio 54.

Sweet!

Maud 1 Glasgow 0

2008-06-30T22:08:00.007+01:00

This weekend has been quite hectic for myself and he who helps me to shift flyers. On Friday we did a whistle-stop tour of Edinbuggery do drop off some flyers for Feugh Fest. Then over to Cumbernauld, where we got lost on the way and ended up going straight to Glasgow :-)

We met up with my bro and his mates, who were already getting a bit pished in JT Rockhead in the Trongate. We soon wandered down to Glasgow Green - to see Radiohead!!

Pictures are courtesy of my crappy phone. You could tell that this gig was organised by DF Concerts; gates opened at 4pm, and it had the feel of a mini festival. There were food stalls everywhere, providing things like haggis to pork rolls to the trusty burgers.

I liked seeing Radiohead as it isn't often that I get to check out a really famous band in a big venue. But, herein lies the problem for me. I couldn't really see the stage, I could only make out what was going on from the big TV screens on the stage. This made me feel quite detached from the gig, and I wasn't prepared to get squished by moving further forward.

Radiohead themselves were on quite good form, though I did notice the odd slip here and then. They almost lost it on their second song of their set, the band seemed to alter the tempo quite a lot during 'no surprises' and 'paranoid android' could have done with tightening up a bit.

After the gig we headed to Cumberauld to stay at my dad's house. We didn't get to bed until 1am and had to get up a 6am to travel up to Aberdeen. Waaah!! I had to come back up to do some flyering for Feugh Fest. Sometimes when I was walking along Belmont Street I felt tired to the point of delirium :-(

Flyering finished at 3pm, but we weren't finished yet. I had a gig to go to in Maud!

he who was my roadie for a day and robert outside the Maud marquee

I was depping for a rock'n'roll covers band called Rock Solid. I was playing my sax for the night; I was so tired that I'm surprised that I had enough energy to continue breathing nevermind find some puff for the saxophone.

Me with my temporary bandmates Rock Solid

I have to say that the Maud marquee was an experience. The normal clientele for a covers band are mid 20s to early 30s. Out in Maud however, it must have been the highlight of the teeny-bopper social calendar. It reminded me of school discos; the adults hiding in a corner or propping up the bar. The flocks of giggly girls that dance for one song and then scamper outside to find their smuggled half bottle of vodka from behind the bushes. I saw some sights up in Maud: loved-up horny teenage couples slow dancing and snogging. I got the fabulous view of some horny young bloke squeezing his girlfriend's bum while they were snog-dancing. Ew! It's enough to put you off your solo. The whole night I was surrounded with daft wee boys acting like dicks to anyone that got near to them cos they were trying to show off to their mates. It has been a long time since I have seen people that were that wankered!

Love the bar - rustic!

Even though the Maud marquee had more than it's fair share of numpties, but I had to admit that I enjoyed myself more in Maud than in Glasgow. I like having a change of scenery, and Maud certainly provided a contrast from Aberdeen. I need to thank Rock Solid for taking me under their wing and making my little gig really enjoyable :-)

Jayne x

Cheesecake Challenge

2008-06-21T17:51:00.002+01:00

This is something for Aberdeen Blog members, especially BTK and Jyll.

My mate Robert keeps on saying that he can make a better cheesecake than me, ha. Yeah, whatever. He doesn't even make proper cheesecake ie. baked cheesecake, he just throws the cream cheese and mascarpone together. Charlatan!

So how about we organise a day where we can have a cheesecake/chocolate cake/random baked goods competition? Sounds like an event usually reserved for the woman's institute, but hey who cares. I think I must becoming domesticated in my old age. It wasn't that long ago that I couldn't make scrambled eggs, and now I quite like sharing recipies with friends. He who is cluttering up the hall with bass guitar related stuff is on to a winner here :-)

Jayne x

Bwah haha!!

2008-05-01T16:45:00.002+01:00

I have banished one of my credit cards!!

Take that Halifax, you immoral pocket-raping bastards!!!

Feugh Fest

2008-04-23T00:28:00.004+01:00

Hey folks

For those of you out there who didn't know, aswell as being a hippy muso music student (and choral scholar) I am the Events Coordinator for Feugh Fest, a one day music festival being held out in Banchory.

Keep your diaries free on Saturday 30th August this year, it should be a good 'un. We have expanded a lot since last year, and we have a far better line up. Everything is bigger and better. Ok, plug over. Looks like I managed to beat he who is fiddling with basses in the race to a gig tip-off, haha!!

Misssy M, you may be interested to note that Meester's band is in our line-up? You don't need to thank me, but to quote Gershwin 'I have no strong objection to champage...' :-)

Cheers

Jayne

Biggedy bong

2008-04-11T00:04:00.002+01:00

Eh up folks

My good self and he who just bought a Wii just got back from a great holiday visiting my best friend in Houston. I'm on a diet, we did nothing but eat out every night, eating mostly steak, chicken, ribs, meat of all kinds. Oooh and I'm kitted out with my first ever digital camera, hee hee.

So to the point of this post, Fiona wanted me to part with my closely guarded recipies which consist of my (limited) repetoire of stuff that I can make which I can cook with a comforting degree of certainty that I won't kill anyone. So here goes recipe number 1:

The 'I made this and I didn't kill anyone' recipe series: Rhubarb Crumble

You will need:
Farmfoods is your best friend, go get their bag of frozen cut Rhubarb. Or get some Rhubarb; or some apples.
Caster sugar. If you don't have it, normal sugar or brown sugar is fine.
Water
A kinda deep dish thing, I use a small casserole/lasagne dish
Butter
Flour
As much Ginger as possible

First of all: Heat up your oven to 200 C
When you get your rhubarb, put the whole bag into something, boil the kettle and cover the rhubarb with water to get it defrosted. Wait about 10 mins.

Drain the water from the rhubarb and put it into your dish, cover the bottom of the dish with water. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of caster sugar over the rhubarb and throw in tons of ground ginger. hey, like ginger dammit; trust me, you can never have enough ginger :-) Mix it all up with the water and put the dish into the oven for 10 - 15 mins.

Then you make your crumble, and you get messy. Get a big blob of butter and chuck in some flour, any kind will do. Stick them both in a bowl and get in there with you hands and rub it all together. If you have put in enough butter you will get some floury blobs, job's a good 'un.

After the 10 - 15 mins, take your rhubarb and sprinkle your crumble stuff over your rhubarb. Put it into the oven again for another 20 mins or so, or when the crumble turns a nice golden brown.

Quality!!

Happy Birthday Billy

2008-01-18T12:52:00.000Z

Hey btk,

I got an update on my Bebo saying that it's your birthday today...?

If it is, Happy Birthday :-)

Jayne xxx

Music stuff

2008-01-10T18:01:00.000Z

Hey everyone

A few music related musings:

My ska band are having a meeting to discuss ideas for songs. Does anyone have a favourite song that they would like to hear in a ska styleee?
One of my new year resolutions is to buy a baritone sax. Don't suppose anyone has got one lying around that they are willing to sell to me?
I got a 17 for my composition, which is the highest 2:1 level you can get. But I want at least an 18 for my stuff, which would be a 1st class merit. What is the difference between getting a 17 and getting an 18? What little detail did I forget about? Can anyone tell me what uni is looking for in order to get a 1st class grade? Sometimes I feel like I don't have a clue.
I received a fellowship from the Lynn Foundation. Thank you, Lynn Foundation trustees, money well spent I'd say :-)

Happy Birthday Matthew

2007-12-31T00:41:00.000Z

Hi everyone.

Long time.....

There's a bloke called Matthew, some of you may know him as neepheid.

It's his birthday today (Hogmanay).

I wrote a song about it: www.myspace.com/carmichaeljayne

You may think this wee song is rubbish, but that is no reflection on him. But hey, it the thought that counts, right?

Jayne xxx

Open letter to the pikey fucks who tried to nick my scootay

2007-09-03T16:10:00.000+01:00

Fuck you , you pikey fucks.

Stag do's and don'ts

2007-07-08T01:31:00.000+01:00

Eh up

It's 1.30am and I'm sitting in my pjs, wondering what he who protests against anything overly manly is up to. Only a few hours ago we exchanged a few text messages where he outlined the plan for his mate's stag do down in Edinbuggery:

Dump stuff at another mate's sisters house (place is empty as she is at T in the park).
Have a nice meal (cool).
Go to titty bar (Hmmm).
Go to club (most of the clubs in Edinburgh are pish).

I don't know what is more weird: potentially being annoyed at he who almost bought a bright pink shirt from Tesco going to a titty bar, or the fact that I'm not annoyed at all.

Should I be annoyed? I don't think so. I have never had any reason to doubt him. So amused was I at his apparent dislike for titty bars, I even cracked a few jokes about it ("just think of it as like one of my gigs, but with some tits. And a bit of chuff if you are lucky, haha"). Apparently he was boasting to his mates about how understanding I was. Is it really that unusual to trust your partner?

So ladies, where do you stand on your fella having some nubile crack whore single mum waving her vag at him?

No offence to lapdancing ladies out there, but I imagine a fair percentage of you are single mums or on crack. Or both.

Good day for money, oh yeah :-)

2007-06-26T18:47:00.001+01:00

subtitle: Bill is going to kick my ass...

Update on the bank refund thing, like I said before I was offered £1801 as a 'gesture of goodwill', accepting no liability. Yeah, whatever. Sorry, but I bowed to my inner student, saying "eradication of debt is a very good thing", took the money and ran.

And so today, my bank account is now £1801 better off. I know Bill, you wanted me to go to court, but would you have seriously dished out all that money if I lost? :-) That has helped me to pay off my tuition fees, and I am off to the pub in a couple of hours!!

Incidentally, I also received a letter from the Stanley Picker Trust with a note of thanks for my report and notice of their intention to renew my fellowship. Huzzah!!

I am feeling rather flush. So flush in fact, that I like the idea of arranging a booze-laden blog meet in my back garden....

Essay results

2007-06-11T12:58:00.000+01:00

I had a nice surprise at uni today.

I got some of my composition results back, and I did better than I expected :-) I got a 17 for a drum solo thing that I composed and a 16 for a vocal piece which is a dedication to he who will be coming home from a stag do today. The funny thing is, I did well with these pieces which I thought were shite, but I did appallingly badly on the concert diary, which I thought I did ok. Arse!! I need some help with whole concert diary business. I really don't know what you are supposed to do in order to get a good mark. Apparently my diary is 'one-dimensional' but will anyone tell me how to bring it up to scratch? Nooooooo!

Has anyone written a music review of some kind? Anyone here a journalist or some brilliant writing person? Where's Stuart MacBeard when you need him :-)

So far my results are:
Vocal composition: 16
String Quartet thing: 6 (ooooh, wince) Apparently bar 18 was 'nonsense', oops :-)
Concert Diary: 10 (shite)
Percussion Composition: 17 (ok, but could be better)
Recital: 16 ( I made some stupid mistakes; I really wanted a 1st class mark)
Tutor reports for voice: 18 (huzzah! That's more like it :-))

Mixed bag, I'm sure you'll agree. But I have always been like that in this course, I usually get a good grade for my voice, and then everything else is pot luck.

Does anyone know anything about harmony? If I want to come out of uni with a good degree, I need to work on these cruddy marks asap.

Update

2007-06-07T16:13:00.000+01:00

Hellooooooo!!

Well I've just finished second year and feel cream-crackered. Contrary to popular belief, this studenty person will not have the chance to laze about and get pished. Chance would be a fine thing :-)

Some nice things have happened:

I'm going to be moving in with the love of my life at the end of July. Huzzah! We have decided to just go to his flat and not pay the extortionate prices
I have become re-acquainted with old friends via the power of Bebo. I've become quite addicted to it recently. Hello Mairi, Barry, Craig, Kimberly et al.
Update on the bank charges front: I phoned my bank today and apparently they will send me a letter in a couple of days with an offer: £1801.00. Should I take it? Considering that since it's such a large amount that if I took it to court, I would have to pay £120 in admin costs, and even then I might not win. I think I will cut my losses and accept the offer. Hey, that means I would be well on my way to the debt-free start to my honours years that I fantasise about :-)

Chicken pox sucks big style

2007-05-15T12:42:00.000+01:00

I don't know how I managed it, but I have chicken pox.

Oh great.

I don't have the time to have chicken pox, I have got a deadline for the end of the week and I have stuff to do. I have a singing recital to work for!!!

Grrr.

There are little blisters all over my chest and stomach, and they are slowly conquering my face. I keep on putting on moisturiser cos I'm paranoid that I'm going to get scars. I'll never be able to making a living as a recitalist if I look like Quasimodo. FFS.

Bank refunds

2007-04-23T17:17:00.000+01:00

Hey

I thought that you lot might like to know that I am currently going through this process. I used Billy's link and went to my local branch with the standard letter and the £10.

Unfortunately, the bank didn't skip past the formality of giving me the bank statements, hence a great whumping big pile of paper was dumped at my door. When I was sat in front of the telly highlighting all the charges that I have had, I had some mixed feeling about it all. Have I got this right? Surely not. Did I really get charged a total of £2049.12? Well, I have double checked it and I still came out with the same amount. I feel shocked at that amount, and also quite ashamed. How could I not notice this money hemorrhaging from my bank account? How could I be so irresponsible? It depresses me, it really does.

I shall send back the now-highlighted statements with the second standard letter ie. geez ma money in two weeks ya bawbags. Here's hoping that I can be another success story in this David and Goliath battle with the Big Four.

Ps. Over two grand, fucking hell. Perhaps this will give he who puts his change in old whiskey bottles some insight into how bad my dealings with money were, and are. Thankfully I'm not quite as bad as I used to be.

How many second chances...?

2007-04-14T11:47:00.000+01:00

I recently heard an update from a friend of mine regarding one of my old flatmates. I'm not going to name him, but in the three months that he lived with me he:

Had a full blown, shouting at the top of his lungs argument with his girlfriend in the middle of the street at 2am. I managed to usher him inside but he just kept on yelling. He was being aggressive so I felt like I couldn't just leave them to argue in their room cos I thought he was going to hit her. I have no idea if he did or not but I stayed in the same room as they argued cos I know he wouldn't if I was there. Then in his infinite wisdom he started to turn on me and shout at me when he was about an inch away from my face. I didn't take any of his crap and called the police on him.
He said when he first met us that he used to take drugs but he didn't any more. I didn't like him but my flatmates eventually coaxed me into giving him a chance. He repaid us by smoking crack in our bathroom.
He still owes myself and my flatmates around £400 for unpaid rent and bills.
A woman called Maria used to phone looking for him so that she could sell him diazepam.

I have heard from my friend that he has tried to get a job in a well known club in Aberdeen as a bar man. A friend of a friend recognised him and told him to 'get out of my bar you lying, wife-beating junkie fuck'. :-)

He said that when he moved into my flat that he wanted to get away from dodgy folk and start again with his life. He buggered that up royally. Now it seems he is trying to enmesh his psychoses into some other poor well-meaning naive bastards.

So my question is: How many times should people get a second chance? I still think that anyone can turn their life around if they really want to. Trouble is with this fella, he is too weak and self indulgent to cope with the hard slog that would eventually give his life meaning.

Beer in a Bucket season

2007-04-04T15:47:00.000+01:00

Oh yes, ladies and gents, the instuctions are pretty simple:

Find a bucket/basin/waterproof recepticle.
Fill it with cold water and/or ice.
Put beers in it.
Find a chair: armchair, deckchair, office chair, vice-chair, anything will do.
Go outside into your garden/patch of grass/ public space/concrete jungle with your chair.
Drink aforementioned beer.
Huzzah!

Circles of thought

2007-04-04T15:34:00.000+01:00

I like blogging.

Problem is, I find that most of the things I want to blog about seem to have a recurring theme: I'm worried about something, I'm doing a gig, I'm not reading/studying when I know I should, etc. I guess I just feel that my life must be pretty boring to most people right now.

Having said that, I have just been invited to sing at someone's wedding on 14th April. Huzzah! If anyone needs a wedding singer, give me a call. I'l l probably do a pro bono as I need the experience :-)

In other news, he who must think i am a nicer person than I think I am has done me the great honour of agreeing to move in with me.

*********************
Flat Wanted

2 bed flat in a nice (ie. not the ghetto) area entry 1st July. Max rent £600 per month, but ideally £450 - 550 would be best. Looking for long term lease, e-mail carmichaeljayne@hotmail.com if anyone has anything ideal :-)

*********************
Sometimes I get worried about things, mostly because I don't trust my own judgement. I always fixate on the small chance that things might go wrong. Then of course, everything turns out ok, so why do I work myself up in the first place? Aaaaarrrrrgh!!

Keyboarista wanted

2007-03-09T15:53:00.000Z

Eh up

I play in a ska covers band called Aka-ska and we need a keyboard player to cover gigs over summer 2007. Anyone interested?

www.aka-ska.com
www.myspace.com/aka_ska

Cheers

Modern miracles

2007-03-09T15:42:00.000Z

Happily married couples
Shop assistants who smile
Junk food that is good for you (mmmm, subway ;-))
Finding a band that is unknown. Is it just me or does everyone seem to listen to the same stuff?
Reducing debt.
Being out of debt.
Having flatmates that you can sit down and drink cups of tea with.
Flatmates that like sharing a meal at the dinner table with you.
Work/band mates who are also your friends.
Friends who you know would bend over backwards for you.
People who still write by hand. I can't remember the last time I wrote a letter.
People who hold doors open for you and say 'excuse me' (see below).
People with manners.
Men such as he who has won me over who make you feel comfortable and secure, but beautiful and special at the same time.
Consciously opting-out of consumer-based competitiveness ie. keeping up with the joneses. There is no room for such pettiness in my life.

No chat

2007-03-01T14:52:00.000Z

I've not blogged for the whole of February. That's pretty bad.

Some good things have come of late:

Two of my bestest friends deciding to do the mattress mambo with each other. I wouldn't have put those two together. To be honest, I'm still getting used to it. But the more I think about them as a couple, the more I see them as perfect for each other.
My birthday: consisted of a merry jaunt into Inverurie where he who is blessed forevermore as he got me GHD straighteners for my birthday's sister won the big prize at an exhibition. She is such a talented artist; I really hope she makes the most of her potential. Oh, and I went into Monkshill to visit my future in-laws :-)
It also consisted of having the most diturbingly drunken party that I have had in my flat for a long time. A lot of people took part in my "Charity Shop Challenge", where your outfit had to be bought from a charity shop and cost no more than a fiver. There was some helluva dodgy looking people, ace!! Then there was the "Champagne Challenge": this consisted of drinking shots of champagne in a minute. I reign supreme with my six shots and six burps in a minute!! Haha!! T'was the stuff of legend. A big thank you goes to everyone who came along x x x
I have had a hectic couple of days. Two assignments that I have to work on, gig tonight, and a conveniently timed throat infection. Oh joy.

That's just about it, really. I'm sure that some other interesting things have happened to me, but I can't think of them just now.

The ultimate anti-FUS device

2007-01-26T11:18:00.000Z

Yup, I'm afraid it's that time of the month again. he who has the patience of a saint has already experienced my grumpiness and disturbingly acute sensitivity.

But I have the answer!

It was meant as my little silly present for Christmas, but it has become a very handy little device indeed. I'm talking about a Tesco USB massager. It's ace!! I'm sitting here working from home with the massager pressed against the bottom of my back. Not only does it get rid of the lady-related discomfort but it also feels quite relaxing!!

I'm sure that most of the blokes on Aberdeen blogs don't want to think about lady-related issues, but think about it, you might earn some serious boyfriend points if you get one of these for your respective wife/girlfriend/fuck buddy :-)

Up a Gumtree...

2007-01-25T17:05:00.000Z

This is a post that was found by flatmates on Aberdeen gumtree, a community notice-board

http://aberdeen.gumtree.com

Mong or Legend? You decide....

--------------------------------------------------------------
Is your vagina in need of a good servicing?

Has it been some time since anybody gave it some care or paid it any attention?

Is it starting to distract your from your work?

Do you keep on hearing a little voice from between your legs whispering “give me some sex”?

If this is the case, then you can now take advantage of your complimentary vagina valet service.

The full vagina valet service includes:
- Initial vagina tantalising / titillation
- Kissing of the vagina lips
- Exploratory tongue investigations
- Clitoral stimulation via slow/fast tongue flickering
- Single/double finger insertion (once vagina fully moist/lubricated)
- Leading on to full penis penetration (typically accompanied by further clitoris stimulation
- Culminating in full vagina orgasm / ecstasy

……..and a fully satisfied customer.

So don’t delay, come take advantage of your free vagina valet today.

Genuine replies only - NO TIME WASTERS

RESURECTION OF THE LAPPYTRON!!!

2007-01-25T16:48:00.000Z

Resurection of the Lappytron

What a wonderful concept. One that I didn't think I would ever experience. Little did I know that he who is kinda geeky was working on my lappytron for me. Fabulous! What a brilliant surprise!!

No more humphing the crappy laptop home from work!!
No more being banished from hotmail or from torrenting!
I can furtle until my fiendish little mind can furtle no more!!

Since I feel overwhelming lucky that the lappytron has manage to survive it's watergate, and bearing in mind I just got a new condenser mic for my saxophone, I think that some insurance needs to be sorted.

When I think about it, at the moment there is a considerable amount of expensive consumer electronics which could meet it's maker at any time, and I would currently recieve no financial recompense. Bollocks!!

I'm going to the Endsleigh site, need to get that sorted pronto.

Does thinking about insurance make me old?

Wires suck ass

2007-01-22T10:57:00.000Z

I haven't had much of a chance to update my blog recently. My lappytron still shows no sign of recovering. I am reduced to pilfering my work lappytron, and I can't figure out how to get the wireless broadband working on this thing. So here I am attached to the fecking router, aaaarrrrrgh!!!

I have changed broadband providers from Tiscali to Orange. I got a new contract phone and for an extra fiver a month you get unlimited broadband - sweet!!! A big thanks to Andre, the South African blokey in Middlesborough who managed to talk me through connecting the thing without the CD-Rom (which wasn't working) for 50 minutes. It it's any consolation Andre something must have sunk in cos I managed to connect my other flatmate's laptop to the broadband all by myself! I was well chuffed :-)

I'm sorry to hear the news that the lurgie has spread to Jyll and Goatie. I know how annoying it is. I found Beechams Flu Plus was the best thing for tackling it. I used to insist on Lemsips but this is well better.

Went to Vegas night at the Forum yesterday, and it was sooo much fun. he who was dressed up like a gangster's sister and her man looked fab, they both wore black with pink accessories. One of our posse managed to win a couple of drinks at the roulette wheel, ace!!! I quite liked drinking gin and tonics as they went florescent under the UV lights :-)

Well better go for now, need to practise for my ska band rehearsal tonight. If you would like to hear us, we have two gigs at the Tunnels: Feb 17th supporting the Amphetameanies and 1st March supporting The Big.

Cheerio

The Lurgie cometh...

2007-01-10T18:00:00.000Z

According to my doctor it's spreading like wildfire across Aberdeen...

For me, it was a pretty bad flu. For the past couple of weeks I have done nothing but sleep, cry, get annoyed at myself for being ill, insist on doing stuff and then nearly fainting, forgetting to eat then nearly fainting, drinking lots of Beechams Flu Plus, feeling weak and nearly fainting, etc. You get the picture.

For others it apparently makes you sick all the time. Perhaps there are two lurgies? Is there a plural for lurgie? Two Lurgai? I dunno.

Whatever it is, smack your bitch up on Vitamin C if you don't want to catch this depressingly debilitating illness. I have been floored for two weeks and my doctor says it will take another two for me to completely recover. Oh joy. I have been reassured by he who is watching footie tonight that I haven't been trying his patience while I've been ill. He is a much nicer person than I am: I hate ill people, they are boring.

Huzzah!!

2007-01-06T13:42:00.000Z

Hello everyone

I hope that 2007 has been good to you so far. The christmas and new year period was pretty hectic for me. I am now on my second bought of flu and feeling tres stressed regarding my impending exams. I just don't know if I'm up to it, but the thought of doing the exams later in the year fills me with dread...

After a drink-fuelled night out with my friends, 2006 also heralded the death of my lappytron (sob). I think it got water underneath it, it made a "phzzt" noise and it has refused to work ever since. It is only now, some two weeks later, that I have been able to access my blog. I have borrowed the lappytron from my work and I have now harvested the wireless PC card from my old lappytron so that I can use it in this truly pre-historic computer. It's so old that it doesn't have any USB ports. At all. Not one. But it did happily load up my Sibelius programme so that I can work from home.

As I said earlier I am on my second bought of flu, lucky me. I'm sure he who drank loads of whiskey at new year must be fed up of hanging around with a snot-infested whinger.

Things should lighten up after the exam period though. Two gigs confirmed with my ska band, huzzah! I just need to concentrate on feeling better. Having a working computer helps a lot. Man, it's nice to feel like part of the outside world again.

I love it when my friends kick ass!

2006-12-14T13:20:00.000Z

I finally managed to get hold of Sticker, and apparently he has been promoted to team leader!! This is after only a few months at the job! Well done mate, this news coupled with the festive season will make for some good drunken frolics when you come back t'shire.

Other 'my friends are great and they kick ass' highlights include:

Liz starting a distance learning degree in psychology.
Fiona being a mad doctor person and doing mad things over in Texas.
Ross getting his PhD and moving over to yankland with his newly acquired fiancee.
Nicola working like a japanese prisoner of war, but she will soon be a fully fledged doctor so it will be worth it in the end. She also deserves credit for managing to culturise Bob.
Bob for trying new (to him) things like pizza, going to restaurants, and europeans :-)
Niki for persevering with her nursing degree even though I think she gets majorly bored with the slow pace of it sometimes.
Ed for trying to improve himself.
he whose snoring makes me laugh for making the brave decision to learn a musical instrument.
Campbell for building his empire, one sandwich store at a time. If there is one friend of mine that I believe will be a millionaire, it's Campbell.
Steve for giving the best advice in the world, and for being a veteran of coolness and champagne. Also for taking the brave decision to learn how to dance. You will be ace!!
Paul for being engaged and intending to move wherever his fiancee finds a job. That is the kind of sacrifice that people sorta expect in a marriage, but that doesn't make it any less admirable or courageous.

I know some pretty excellent people, and sorry if you are not mentioned above. You and I know who you are. I hope that during Christmas and New Year I can catch up with as many of you as possible x

Choon a day

2006-12-08T10:03:00.000Z

The Supremes are under appreciated.

They are the only girl band that have any musical merit.

It is a good testament to someone's musical legacy when their songs still sound like they could have been released yesterday.

Respect due.

End of an (cafeti)era

2006-12-07T19:58:00.000Z

The Costa Soup Kitchen is soon to close down.

This is a time to mourn it's loss and look back with fondness:

Sitting in the big sofas for the whole day watching the world go by. As fate would have it, I managed to acquire both of those sofas. I'm happy to report that after some loving care and rehabilitation both sofas have healthy and active lives serving the community as an unlikely yet effective aphrodisiac. Honestly, I think everyone has been at it on those sofas. Unfortunately I am now in possession of only one Costa sofa; they were seperated in the break-up agreement (no offence Martin).
Those tasty chicken panninis they used to have. This was back in t'day when they served panninis on actual pannini bread and not in ciabattas.
Some people reminisce about socialising in the pub with their mates. My nostalgic meanderings take me back to humongous crowds of people grabbing all the chairs they could from upstairs to sit in some form of rudimentary circle and order rounds of coffee. Yes, that's right, rounds of coffee. Ace!
I met some of my best friends in Costa, both when I worked there and as a regular: Sticker (Double macchiato), Steve (Latte), James (Latte), and Campbell (Triple espresso).

That Costa thing that they are building in the Bon Accord Centre will never have as much atmosphere and character as the Soup Kitchen. Hey Steve, maybe we should open up a rival coffee shop, bwah ha ha ha....

For He Who Makes Me Happy

2006-12-03T16:19:00.000Z

Met my match

I can't promise you That I will never be in a bad mood
I can't promise you That I will always be the best that I can be.
I can't promise you That my feeling won't make me worry every day;
But I can promise you I always want to feel this way.

You wandered into my life; I'm happy and dumbfounded,
And if you ever leave : It'll never be as you found it.
Being with you: Breathing life in us two.
Smart but stupid, Scared but lucid;
Because I have met my match.
I have met my match.

Getting older...

2006-12-01T11:51:00.000Z

I think I must be getting older as I have these random thoughts:

When I was singing with the Chapel Choir and there were some folk having a conversation about something twatty. It seemed to me that they weren't so much having a conversation but waiting for their opportunity to show that they knew some big words. I'm glad that I'm the only person that I feel that I have to justify myself to. Ok, so maybe fiona and he who likes hondas but that's it.
Fortunately or unfortunately, I also seem to be my harshest critic.
Quality definately overules quantity. It's ace when you can get both.
Not being in debt is a goal that you would like to achieve within your lifetime.
You like music that reminds you of things.
Marriage and kids doesn't really seem that scary. Well kinda scary, but not as scary as it used to be.

Beta

2006-11-26T17:46:00.000Z

My god, that took a while for my blog to go over to Blogger Beta.

Nevermind.

I have a strange weekend. I was working in the Tunnels on Friday night, despite the fact that I have never worked behind a bar in my whole life. After the inital 'oh my god, what am I doing here?' and being frustrated at not being able to pour a pint of Tennents without a metre of froth, I calmed down a little and enjoyed it. Having said that, I wouldn't recommend doing a 7 1/2 hour shift in the Tunnels after you have been at uni and work all day. He who surprises me with chocolate was working too. He was effectively by boss for the night as the owner left him in charge. It was fun getting to kiss the boss :-)

Had a gig in Aboyne last night so I didn't get to bed until about 3am. Needless to say I am totally cream crackered, but this weekend has been fun. I feel like I was pushed into the deep end a bit, but sometimes it is good to have a go at something totally new.

Remembrance Sunday

2006-11-12T23:37:00.000Z

They will not grow old, as we that are left grow old.
Age will not weary them, nor the years condemn.
In the setting of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Love Da Bru

2006-11-10T11:36:00.000Z

I have finished my caffeine challenge! Hurrah!

I woke up on Thursday morning with he who likes steak asking the date. It was the 9th! I had finished the caffeine challenge a day early, I thought it finished on Friday! Brilliant!!

Needlessly to say I had a caffeinated morning cup of tea, followed by a latte and chocolate brownie when I ventured off to work. Have you ever felt really wired after just one cup of coffee? It's a very strange feeling; my hands were shaking a bit and everything!

On my way home from I felt an overwhelming urge to get reacquainted with the amber nectar: Irn Bru. It truly is the drink of the gods. I didn't really miss caffeinated coffee that much, but I was absolutely rasping for some Bru. I'm glad I can have my fill of it, guilt free ;-)

Other musings:

Guilty Pleasure of the music variety: Sean Paul - Temperature. I don't know why but I like it; gets your bum shaking :-)
Guilty Pleasure of the social variety: VEGAS! At the Forum Saturday night. Come suitably dishevelled and sexily sophisticated :-)
Guilty Pleasure of the academic variety: Being able to use my MIDI keyboard and lappytron at home so that I don't have to hang around uni to learn piano. Sweet!

I'm off to ponder over my outfit for Vegas, see ya.

You know it's Christmas when...

2006-11-06T18:33:00.000Z

The little stall selling Santa hats has began its residency outside Markies.
When Starbucks being selling their Eggnog Lattes.
There are lots of toy adverts on TV.
Every band in the history of the universe brings out a 'Best of' CD.
Your relatives start asking you about what you are doing for Christmas dinner.
You start wondering what you should do for Christmas dinner.
You go to work when it's dark, you go home when it's dark.
The resolve to avoid any Christmas-related paraphinalia that has been in the shops since September is slowly weakening...
That road that goes over the hills is /will be shortly closed.

Urban Legends

2006-10-26T16:29:00.000+01:00

Perhaps some of you have heard these stories?

Hide the jobby. Two friends apparently took turns to hide jobbies in each other's flats. Usually it was in someone's shoe or between some towels, but there was one occaision where they couldn't find it. It was eventually discovered at the bottom of a tub of margerine... oh the horror.
Scurvy Boy. Where some bloke down in Edinburgh spent most of his student loan on the wankiest stereo he could lay his hands on; and this was back in the day when you received your loan for the whole year in one lump sum! He planned to live on porridge for the rest of the academic year. A couple of months later he bit into an apple and his teeth started to wobble. He went to the dentist who confirmed that he had got Scurvy. Class!
Bad Bug. Apparently a girl went to doctor's complaining of a sore stomach. The doctor said that it could be treated but they would have to call the police. The girl asked what the hell was going on (naturally), and it transpired that she had contracted a bug that you can only get it you have sex with dead people... This was at a time when her boyfriend worked in a morgue!

Are any of these stories even remotely true?

Does anyone else have some local anecdotes/great stories that might have an element of truth?

Blurgh

2006-10-23T18:52:00.000+01:00

This is week four of my uni degree, and this is the first day that I have found any time to study.

Time management has never been a strong point of mine :-)

I'm sure that I have had plenty of opportunity to study before now; I just don't know what I do with my time.

Caffeine update: I seem to be levelling out now, think I am on the home straight. Still have a tendency to look for the odd hour when I'm not doing anything in order to have a snooze, but I'm ok :-)

If anyone isn't doing anything on Saturday, my ska band are having a Halloween party at the Blue Lamp: www.aka-ska.com

On an even keel (sorta)

2006-10-16T18:02:00.000+01:00

Day 2 continued to be a nightmare, slept for six hours and had constant migraines. I very rarely get headaches, but when I do I become a bit of a hypochondriac and convince myself that I am on the verge of having an enbolism or a brain haemorrhage....

On an even keel (Day 3 - 7)

But now, a few days on I have no migraines. I have however developed a tendency to need an afternoon nap. Ok, you can't get away with that when you are at uni/working, so I quickly grab some sugary contraption to perk myself up. Man, I feel old.

I have become fully versed in the caffeine-free stock in all my local shops. I quite like caffeine-free tea from the Co-op, it tastes exactly the same! I really wish someone would make caffeine-free Irn-Bru...
I never thought that I'd say this, but I am seriously thinking of keeping on with the caffeine-free lifestyle after my little month-long challenge. Hey, at least it would make me think twice about taking any caffeine. It could only do me good to get rid/reduce a toxin that's going into my system :-)

Dammit, now I sound like one of those lettuce-munching tree hugging hippies. I need to redress the balance...... er, I'm off to eat some raw steak or something.

Day 1

2006-10-11T13:20:00.000+01:00

The morning of my first caffeine-free day was ok at first. Got a drink of water when I woke up rather than the habitual morning cup of tea. Then it was off to work for a couple of hours and then uni. Uni was a total nightmare, I couldn't concentrate on anything. In the second lecture I kept on falling asleep. I had to eat a kit kat chunky to get sugared up in order to stay awake for chapel choir.

Day 2
so far has been sh*te. Had hardly any sleep, so promptly fell asleep in class (again). I have written off the whole day and have come home to sleep. I hope that the migraines will go away soon.

This has made me realise how much caffeine I must be consuming. I feel like death on a stick.

The Last Slurper....

2006-10-09T20:08:00.000+01:00

I've gone and done it now....

Thanks to Goatie for giving me the inspiration to try and raise a bit of dosh for a good cause. It didn't take me very long to work out what would:

really challenge me
be relatively cheap to administer
be easy to monitor my progress/lack thereof

There was only one solution. The caffeine had to go.

I will apologise in advance for any misdemeanours that I will be involved in during my come-down. My poor friends and boyfriend will be exposed to me sans the latte goodness. Trust me, at 7.30 am it won't be a pretty sight.

More or less daily updates shall follow...

www.justgiving.com/jaynesdetox

Update

2006-10-08T18:50:00.000+01:00

This week I have been mostly:

Getting annoyed at my Mum. I didn't think it was possible to be so riled at someone who is trying to give you stuff all the time. Food, clothes, shoes, even microwaves were offered but all I wanted was for her to "geez peace!". I'm glad that she got to meet he who shall remain anonymous.
Falling in love... :-)
Being musically. I won a choral scholarship with the university. Woo hoo!! I thought that I really sucked ass at my audition so I was really surprised when I was offered the scholarship. Flip side of the coin is that this means that I have to go to chapel every sunday morning now. Uuurrrgh. Oh, and I had a gig at the Globe with my funk/soul band Groove Cruise. We rocked! One random bloke said that I had an amazing voice. Heheheh, I feel chuffed :-)
Hating this woman at my work. I am organising a conference and asked everyone to specify any dietary requirements. She said she didn't have any. On the first day she told me that she couldn't eat any of the sandwiches because she didn't eat red meat or fish. Grrrrr.... ok so I get the sandwich company to make a cheese salad sandwich just as she requested. On the second day she couldn't eat the sandwich that she specifically ordered because "the cheese is mouldy". OH MY GOD WOMAN!!!! It was mature cheese! What did you expect? Picture me trying to keep calm while she moans about her practically saville-row tailored sandwich. So I phone the sandwich company again and ask to give her soft cheese for tomorrow. On the third day the sandwich company made two sandwiches, one with mozarella and one with feta. And guess what? She couldn't eat either of them because she doesn't like olives or sun-dried tomatoes!!!!!!! FFS!!! What is wrong with this woman?! In the end I spend three quid out of my own money to buy her a chicken salad bowl from the shop down the road. I can't wait to see what kind of emotionally blackmailing kiddy strop she pulls when I go to work tomorrow....

Mum

2006-10-03T18:30:00.000+01:00

My mum is coming up to Aberdeen on Saturday.

Oh bollocks.

Accidental triplication wonderment

2006-09-29T20:13:00.000+01:00

Arsing Blogger

It said that it wasn't loading properly, now all of a sudden it has published my post in triplicate. I was going to take two of them down, but on second thoughts it does seem to have a bit of impact. I wonder if the birthday bee-atch appreciates my scribblings...

I'm really happy just now.

It's my first week back at uni and I feel quite overwhelmed with the amount of work that I will have to do. But by the same token I feel like I can overcome it, because I'm happy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEEE-ATCH

2006-09-28T18:57:00.002+01:00

A big birthday 'SHABBA' going out to me Houston possee, bo!

Hope you have a great day Fi, I love you loads and miss you more than you realise.

My god, you are old :-)

Jayne
xxx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEEE-ATCH

2006-09-28T18:57:00.001+01:00

A big birthday 'SHABBA' going out to me Houston possee, bo!

Hope you have a great day Fi, I love you loads and miss you more than you realise.

My god, you are old :-)

Jayne
xxx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEEE-ATCH

2006-09-28T18:57:00.000+01:00

A big birthday 'SHABBA' going out to me Houston possee, bo!

Hope you have a great day Fi, I love you loads and miss you more than you realise.

My god, you are old :-)

Jayne
xxx

Annual assessment

2006-09-22T15:43:00.000+01:00

I was reminded of a post that Neepheid posted a while ago, asking how everyone's year was going so far: http://www.wheeee.org/showallnews.php?n=446

We are now going into the final quarter of 2006, and on reflection I have conjured up some interesting stats:

This time last year I had only been to foreign-shire once about ten years ago. Since May this year I have been to Paris, Dublin and Barcelona :-)
I have attended four auditions, two more still to come.
14 exams: one fail, one abstention (I overslept :-)
Two boyfriends, one ozzie bloke I snogged in O' Neils and one person who was nice to me at first but then decided to be a twat.
Five jobs: life model at Grays, life model at Aberdeen college, administrator, receptionist and travel coordinator.
Acquired one new aunt and other members of my family such as my new aunt's nieces and nephews, all of whom are warm friendly people who made me feel really welcome in Barcelona.
This time last year I didn't know any Petes. Now, all of a sudden I know five of them!
Had my first gigs with the first bands I have ever been in.
Recorded a demo for the first time. Lots of waiting around and drinking tea :-)
Have managed to accrue some debt over the last couple of years, but that is going to go, asap! Have managed to decrease debt by 15% since May.
Four of my closest friends have left Aberdeen, one is thinking of leaving. I'm trying not to develop a complex about it.
Large(ish) purchases: keyboard, internet router, laptop, vespa.
50% of tuition fees has been covered by academic bursaries :-)

Things are going well, I wonder what life has in store for me in the last quarter of the year...?

Need to relax

2006-09-21T14:57:00.000+01:00

I've been feeling kinda stressed over the past couple of weeks, worrying endlessly about every aspect of my life. I think that things will calm down a bit when I feel more settled at uni.

I guess that I am quite lucky that I have friends who come from all walks of life. Some inspire me with their personalities; I wish I was more like them. I would like to be more focused and tenacious. It would also be great if I could trust my instincts rather than constantly looking for reasons to doubt myself.

It worries me that things are good just now, and look like they are going to get better. I feel annoyed at myself for not being able to relax.

Big Congratulations to my mate Suzi, who recently got in touch with me to announce her engagement. Suzi, you are a mad Singaporean wifey and I wish you all the best x

Who will be next to get married? Seems like it's contagious ;-)

Drunken mates

2006-09-17T02:23:00.000+01:00

I went to Vegas night tonight at the Forum, but had to leave a lot earlier than intended because my flatmate was absolutely mashed.

I love her to bits, but to be honest I find it a bit annoying that I had to leave something that I really enjoy early to make sure she gets home ok. I wouldn't mind so much if she was ever in the position that she had to scrape me up and send me home, but it's always me looking after her. I'm at risk of getting fired because I used my work's business account to order a taxi; that's how worried I was about her.

But on the positive side, I had a great night. Felt brave because I was showing a lot of leg, not the sort of outfit I usually go for. But I was glad that I just went for it :-)
My thoughts turned to someone who wasn't there, but apparently I left them speechless in Tesco, hehe :-) my evil plans have come to fruition!! Bwhahaha!

speechlessness

2006-09-12T14:14:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was characterised by a fair bought of speechlessness, worrying, thinking, surprise, stealth and grenades.

Hmmmm...

Don't know what to say, don't know what to do.

Some things just creep up on you when you're not looking.

Dancing badgers

2006-09-10T17:30:00.000+01:00

It was my mate Steve's birthday night out last night. Oh my god, do I feel rough. I was meant to be rehearsing with my funk band today, but I feel like there are some badgers dancing on my brain.

I'm supposed to be going to a pub quiz tonight, but I really don't know how much intellect I am able to contribute in this state.

The reoccuring theme for this weekend seems to be things that don't quite go according to plan...

:-)

Spam text (who needs enemies)

2006-09-06T17:51:00.000+01:00

I'm not normally one for forwarding on any spam, but this one was too intruiging. Basically you have to text ten of your closest friends and ask them to describe you in one word. Not all of them have replied but here are the results so far:

Mad
Halcyon (means calm apparently)
Beautiful
Diva
Horny
Quirky
Giggly

Quite a mixed bag, I'm sure you will agree. Not sure what to make of it :-)

Caught by the FUS...

2006-09-05T19:15:00.000+01:00

It's days like this that I realise I am a girl...

I am having a Fat, Ugly and Stupid day. There's no logic behind it, it's just there. My hormones must be all over the place. Currently I feel like an eclectic mix of Quasimodo, a beached whale and George W. Bush :-(

I think the cure is buried at the bottom of a bucket of chocolate mini bites...

Tunnels tastic

2006-09-04T17:02:00.000+01:00

My ska band has had some very positive feedback from The Tunnels and they have invited us to play there on Hogmanay!! Sweeeeeeet!! I really hope that we are able to do it. Sometimes it's a bit of a nightmare to coordinate the schedules of nine people, but it would be a great opportunity :-)

Congratulations to my friends Nicki and Ed who announced their engagement on Saturday. I still can't believe that people my age do grown up things like plan to get married and suchlike. I don't feel like an adult at all! Though if I was an adult that would explain the appeal of Marks and Spencers, why I check the APR and interest on every financial product I look at, and why I generally avoid wearing high heels when I'm going out on the piss :-)