The light at their place isn't great, so I used my speedlite for all these shots (except for the outdoors one). And I'm hoping to start a new trend with this 'awake newborn' thing. It seems to be happening to me a lot lately!

Hope you enjoy this sneak preview J and J: there are so many beautiful shots from the weekend it was a bit of a challenge to pick these few out.

Comic-Con: Screaming throng greets 'Twilight' cast More girls than ever crammed themselves into Comic-Con's Hall H this afternoon - and it wasn't just to see clips from the Dakota Fanning futuristic actioner Push and the Nicolas Cage apocalyptic drama Knowing.

Hollywood actors union faces internal rift An insurgent faction within the Screen Actors Guild has launched a campaign to wrest control of the powerful union from leaders they blame for stalemated contract talks with major Hollywood studios.

Sexual desire elusive for many women It’s the biggest sexual problem women have, and the little blue pill doesn’t seem to help. Viagra - the medication that enables male erections - doesn’t enhance sexual interest among women taking anti-depressants.

Painter fined £30 for smoking in his own van Decorator Gordon Williams was fined £30 for puffing a ciggie in his van - because council officials said it counted as smoking in the workplace.

Video Review: Baby Mama In the same week that we get one of the films of the year (see The Dark Knight, left), Tina Fey and a cast of has-beens and never-weres give us one of the worst.

Ozzy Osbourne is to be crowned a "living legend" in the 2008 Classic Rock Roll of Honour. The nominations were announced by Alice Cooper at a launch event in central London, which also featured a performance from Stone Gods.

Mum accused of killing baby collapses in Crete court The British mum accused of killing her newborn baby in Greece collapsed after a six-hour court grilling yesterday.

8MP Samsung Powerhouse Handset Gets Official It may have looked too good to be true, but - praise be - it wasn't... Leaked last week the Samsung 'i8510' is the most powerful multimedia handset to date.

Videos, Elmo prank call...

Kermit the frog prank call...

Sexy sXe Gathering at City Walk

Vanessa Hudgens Sears Commercial - (Don't Just Go Back) FULL [Highest Quality]

I am in love with this food establishment called 'The Market Place' Unforrtunately most Americans have to shop at generic food markets that sell tasteless produce and non descript packet food. Well I digress back to The Market Place, this is a wonderful emporium of inexpensive lovliness. I could spend hours in there and I love the customers who challenge me when I buy 'free range eggs' when the 'other' eggs are on sale. Well here I am on a hot day at the market place so I purchase creamy coleslaw, potato salad and buns and sausage. Dinner done.

It was a repeat of last night. I reckoned on 6 for dinner, as we have Sue and Nigel arriving hot off the Mackinac Island Race. Well daughter never showed up, Nigel and James went to see a band down town. So Charlie, Sue and I tucked into our feaSt. Lots left for lunch tomorrow and Saturday.

Recipe for success guys and gals

Always have buns in the freezer

Chicken Sausage

Mustard

Pickles

Sliced Tomato

Good quality store bought Coleslaw and Potato Salad

Couple of cartons of Gelato

Future Hopes: To cook a meal which is totally eaten!

Tonight was no exception... To begin with. She was showing off one of her numerous holistic healing powers* tonight, by this I mean she treated her friend Rachel to a Hopi Ear Candling session. (this basically means she asks the person lots of questions about their health, then proceeds to burn a hollow candle into each of her ears to draw out debris by creating a negative pressure). Anyway, at half ten my internet cut out, (to my annoyance, as I was half way through a debate with a friend over a private issue) and I decided to make use of my time and tidy the kitchen like dad had asked me, (somewhat inconveniently) earlier in the evening. I cleaned the kitchen to perfection, and decided to tuck in to the can of tuna fish that had been taunting me from the cupboard. I had only picked at the food Chris cooked at work, and that was at about seven o'clock, so to then be hungry at half ten was reasonable enough.

So I sat at the table eating tuna and reading the copy of The Big Issue I bought last time I was in Thornbury** waiting for mum to finish the ear candling (which had been in process for all of two and a half hours. When mum finally finished at quarter to twelve I took my chance and pelted downstairs (quietly) to butter her into letting me extend my internet allowance. She said no, and I persisted for about ten minutes, whilst she got a bowl of cereal and sat down to eat it. I resigned myself to my fate, and then as I got to the dining room doorway, I realised I had one last card (which never usually works). I asked her what she would do if I told her I didn't want to look after the kids for her, and that got her attention. I was suprised as this very rarely works, but she looked up and said to me "mhmmmmsh" then finished her mouthful of rice crispies. What she was trying to say was that she needs me to look after the three (wise) monkeys tomorrow for her because she has to go out and dad is at work. Oh how the tables turned. I told her I didn't want to look after them because I couldn't have five minutes to post up the poem I found (and finish my heated debate, though I didn't mention that part). She actually relented and said "okay, five minutes". I was pretty much gobsmacked because my parents never usually relent when they say no unless they know that they were out of place (which mum wasn't at this point). Anyway, I got my extra five minutes, which has turned into an extra hour because mum went to bed some time ago telling me she would be listening out for me going downstairs to turn the internet off again (not likely as she probably won't be able to stay conscious for more than ten minutes bless her).

* My mum was forced to take four years from her full time employment (as a midwife) when my brother was taken ill with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) and throughout the course of his many treatments she had enough spare time to take up after her desired hobbies, mainly to do with aromatherapy, crystals, and angels. It is all very spiritual. She is now a trained practitioner in the fields of Indian Head Massage, Reiki, Crystal therapy, and has done much work on other areas of the field, taking a firm interest in Angels, and Aromatherapy. All of these have had an added bonus for me as I am the Guinea Pig, willing to sacrifice many an evening to answer questions, and being subjected to tormenting hours of massage and treatments (that would cost a small fortune in any spa). I love it really, I consider myself to be very very lucky, having a mum who can give a full on spa treatment for virtually no cost, as I am her experimental guinea pig (and hopefully soon I am going on a Reiki course myself, which will be fantastic).

** I was in Thornbury one day to get some bits and pieces (a new pallette of watercolour paints, some derwent colouring pencils, and a few other items of my personal interest) and passed the Big Issue lady on the corner of the street, trying to sell her magazine. Having passed the woman about six times and not once seen a person buy a copy, I ducked into a nearby off-liscence and hunted out my spare fiver. I felt generous, so, five pound note in hand, I left the shop, and walked over to her, greeting her with a smile, and inquiring for the price. £1.50. I asked for a copy, and gave her the money, and told her to keep it all. She looked at me as if Christmas had come early, and said to me "bless you", her face lighting in the first smile I had seen her give in all the numerous weeks I had seen her working. Every time I passed her she said "bless you" over and over, smiling at me as if I had given her a huge gift, not a little five pound note. I was humbled by her, She stands on the street every day of the week except Sundays, for the entire day, trying to sell the Big Issue. I know because i have seen her time and time again. And yet, I was very much touched when she looked at me with such gratefulness in her expression. I felt fantastic for the rest of the day, and even a terrible shift at work only made me feel a little less happy.

The boss-man has also been here to visit, bringing more work with him. 

We managed to miss my step-niece's Birthday on Tuesday, because we were out with Theresa. 

Yesterday I spent all afternoon at the hospital with Mum, as she had to have a load of tests done.  They were pretty gruesome tests, but I'm glad I went because she was not in a fit state to get herself home afterwards.  She had planned to get a taxi, rather than impose - as if I begrudge helping my own mother out when she needs it!

Last night we had a supermarket delivery...that's 4 weeks worth of shopping over and done with.  We'll still need fresh bits and pieces like milk, cheese etc, but only stuff we can get from the local shops. 

Today and tomorrow should hopefully be a bit quieter.  Which is good, because I'm exhausted and feeling the pain.  The tablets still aren't working, although the side effects have really improved since I reduced the dose.  Apart from the weight gain...nearly a stone in 6 weeks.  But the Doctor-man said to give it another month before deciding one way or the other, so I'll just keep plodding on. 

Anyway, back to the title of the post...a strange story from our travels in Scandinavia.  We quickly got into the habit of drinking cocktails at night, on the boat.  Normally, at home, we drink very rarely.  Occasionally A goes out with his mates and downs a few pints, once in a while we buy some lager or wine, and we've usually got a good bottle of Cognac tucked away for when we feel the need.  But for some reason, on the boat we drank loads of cocktails.  Lots of different ones. 

We also stayed up a lot later at night than we usually do, drinking, wandering around the boat or just sitting talking in our cabin. 

On the second night on board, the boat was on it's way out of Amsterdam.  We watched as we left the port, got distracted by the cocktails and forgot all about where we were going. 

Late at night, sat in the cabin feeling slightly tipsy, we glanced out of the window before we settled to sleep.  A noticed that we were moving through a canal, approaching a huge lock.  On the lock-side level with us were several gulls, one of which was walking alongside the boat.  He was peering in through the cabin window, quite curious and not at all afraid.  We watched the comical waddling and hopping of the gull for a while, then left him behind.  Fairly soon we stopped in the lock and soon found two more gulls watching us.  One was sat comfortably on the ground (Fred), level with our window, the other was walking along on a plank of wood at the water level (Bert).  We watched Fred and Bert for a while then suddenly - Whoosh!  A massive flame shot up into the sky, starting some distance above the ground, burning blue and green and orange.  It took us a few minutes to work out that it must be from a massive chimney or something.  The flame burned brightly, got smaller and dimmer and eventually went out.  Almost immediately a second flame started in a slightly different place, and at the same time a great big plume of smoke rushed out of another chimney. 

For maybe an hour we knelt on our bed, leaning across the window-ledge, watching the flames and smoke appear and disappear from one chimney after another.  They looked like enormous blow-torches or flame-throwers, all colours from green and blue to deep red and yellow.  In a weird way they were oddly beautiful, totally mesmerising.  In the almost complete darkness the whole scene took on an eerie, scary aura and we speculated that this was a foretaste of hell, a demon's playground. 

Of course in the cold light of day, the next morning, we knew full well that it was probably an oil refinery or something similarly industrial and prosaic. 

But I prefer the surreal 'we'll wake up and think we dreamed this tomorrow' image we experienced at night.  No doubt the alcohol played its part!

S. has finished school for the year and he's tired. Tired enough to be cheeky and hard to get along with. He's a good person, sweet and kind and thoughtful but like most of us, he's not fun to be around when he's exhausted.

For the past few days, he's been pressing buttons with me until I end up feeling furious. Not just a bit annoyed or upset but beside myself with anger. I start off being very reasonable, I always let them know when they're reaching a boundary. I want them not to be surprised by big outbursts of anger so when I feel myself getting angry, I tell them. Then I try and find a way to avert it while still sticking to my guns about whatever it is I've asked them to do. Sometimes I lose my temper and that's okay, I'm human and I figure it won't hurt them to know it.

Tonight before the bath, I explained to S. that even though there's no school tomorrow, he needed to go to bed at a reasonable time so he could get a proper sleep, since he stayed up late last night. He took it well, we did the bath, read books, put Z. to bed and then I settled down to tell S. a story. I reminded him again that he wouldn't be coming downstairs and invited him to snuggle up.

He started having a tantrum. Z. woke up and started to cry, I calmed him and spoke to S., who wasn't listening but was working himself up into a hard-done-by fury. I knew he was tired, so I just hugged him and led him to bed, telling him gently but very firmly that it was time for bed and he needed to stop now.

He didn't. He freaked out and suddenly, just like that, I turned into my mother. I don't mean my friend, the person I can talk to about anything in the world, I mean the woman she was when I was a child. Post-natally depressed and shrieking.

I yelled, I shouted, I worked myself up into a towering rage and I said things to my little boy that I regret. He cried and I became cold and distant. I wished him goodnight, hugged him perfunctorily, and came downstairs to ring my Mum, feeling dreadful already and forgetting she was away.

Dad answered the phone. He's good my Dad but he isn't what I needed just then, he's too attached to advice-giving and the need to be right to be able to listen to me properly at times like this. I listened to what he had to say and then said goodbye.

Then A. rang. He's good too but again he wants to present me with solutions and I just wanted to lie down and weep.

I don't want to live in a house full of anger and freaking out. I don't mean that I want things to be controlled and bland, just that I don't want this. I don't want to teach my kids that the way to deal with things is to become enraged, or cold and distant and I don't want to be on the receiving end of those teachings when they're teenagers and adults.

I went back up to hug him and he'd fallen asleep, his pillow wet with tears and it made me cry harder than before.

I can't be objective about this stuff tonight. I feel as though I've failed myself and my boys.

Tomorrow will be better, things usually are with a bit of perspective but tonight I'm worn out and I need a cup of tea.

The Octopus Project
Hello, Avalanche
October 9th 2007
Peek-A-Boo Records

Part garage rock, part NES music protocol, and part taurine infused melodics, The Octopus Project’s Hello, Avalanche bravely transverses the boundary between electronica and post rock. The most apparent feature of this band is their overt interjection of digital melody and animated instrumentation into a genre that typically prizes subtly and droning repetition. A song will alternately run a sampled scale and a barrage of distorted noise, punctuating the electro-beats with organic instruments, disallowing the music to remain suspended in an epic or sprawling delay.

Hello, Avalanche was co-produced by Ryan Hadlock of Blonde Redhead, Eagle Seagull credit. The record again highlights Hadlock’s uncanny nose for talent. The hybridity created by The Octopus Project is extraordinarily pleasing to the pop senses. They allow for the striking textural juxtapositions of bands like Xiu Xiu, yet have kept the discordant ambiguities to a minimum. While the suppression of dissonance is in no way an inherent reason to praise, it is a nice contrast to music of equal scale but of jarring composition.

For those of you who are tired of bands that seek to reproduce the melodies of Tortoise, the sequence execution of The Album Leaf, or the gravity of Explosions in the Sky, know that Hello, Avalanche is a contribution to the modern music soundscape of unique and particular character. The Octopus Project allows the audience to dance as they marvel at a functioning collection of flesh and blood, rather simply to listen with a dissatisfied and disinterested ear. This is the balance they strike; they have a defined structure without sounding sterile or methodical. Who knew Austin…who knew?

-FF

7/9

http://www.myspace.com/theoctopusproject
http://www.theoctopusproject.com/

Other Music
Identification Parade- 2002
One Ten Hundred Thousand Million- 2005

Tour
08/02 Chicago, IL Schuba's w/ Okkervil River
08/03 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza Myspace Stage at 11:30am.
08/04 Kansas City, MO Record Bar
08/05 Norman, OK Opolis 08/06 Lubbock, TX Tequila Station
08/11 Phoenix, AZ Rhythm Room w/ Diagonals
08/12 Tucson, AZ Congress Theater w/ Diagonals
08/13 San Diego, CA TBA w/ Diagonals
08/14 Los Angeles, CA Knitting Factory w/ Diagonals
08/15 Visalia, CA Cellar Door w/ Diagonals
08/16 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill w/ Diagonals
08/18 Portland, OR Satyricon w/ Diagonals
08/19 Seattle, WA Nectar Lounge w/ Diagonals
08/20 Vancouver, BC Richard's
08/22 Edmonton, ALB Velvet Underground
08/23 Calgary, ALB Hi Fi
08/25 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
08/26 Denver, CO Hi Dive
08/28 Ft. Worth, TX Lola's w/ Diagonals
08/29 Houston, TX Warehouse Live w/ Diagonals
09/28 Austin, TX Austin City Limits

Allow me to explain. He decided one lunch time to play the drums with his fingers on the lid of a plastic tub of sun dried oil-enclosed peppers. Taking it out of the fridge and drumming the lid, it slipped from his grasp, and in one split second covered the entirety of him, me, and the surrounding counters and cuboards with oil, garlic, basil and pepper slices. He and I, meanwhile, were just stood in the kitchen in the exact poses we had been in that split second before the pepper explosion. He was just stood there in the middle of the room, hands poised as if he were still holding and drumming on the tub, only with the added humour of an open mouth, bearing an expression of bemusement and puzzlment that just said "where did the tub go??" kind of like the expression your dog would have if you pretended to throw a ball and hid it behind your back. He looked from his empty, oil splattered hands, to me, to the oil, pepper and garlic covered kitchen. I burst out laughing, and helped him clear up.

The same kind of thing happened today, except it was half a pint of single cream, and mum was present. Her first remark was "oh bugger, this means there's going to be a third time..." Needless to say, I couldn't keep a straight face. Mum and dad however did not share my amusement, and snapped at me when I didnt scrabble round trying to clear up with them. I politely replied that there wasnt enough room and if I tried to help they would just end up shouting at me for being in the way (as is their mantra). I am pleased to say however, that I have only to wait a few more minutes and then I can go and claim one of my lovely desserts and indulge in a little bit of chocolate.

My mum seems to have a throwing out stuff complex. By this I mean she won't throw anything out. She hoards everything. I was trying to persuade her that she didn't need to keep my baby things, since I had grown out of them now (about 15 years ago) but she seemed to want to keep them in case she had grandchildren. This is understandable - and they will also hold memories and sentimental value. But the only time anyone ever looks at the old junk and thinks 'oh yeah, I remember doing that' is when they are clearing out the space where the junk lives. I know this because I did a lot of that over the last week. The best one was finding artwork from when I was about 8. What I thought was a perfect replica of something at the time really, really wasn't. I think I'm going off topic though. Things like artwork can be kept. Toys however cannot. What grandchild wants to play with some 50 year old toys? They want new toys surely... Besides I think they would be overwhelmed by the number of toys my mum/I have kept.

The solution to this throwing out nightmare I think is to say about everything:  'will I ever use this again? will I ever wear this again?'. Obviously you don't need to say will I ever wear this again about things like cuddly toys, or golf clubs. But you know what I mean.

So to any junk hoarders out there that might just read this, then do as I said above and you might be able to get rid if stuff. Sell it at car boot sales etc. Although I have doubts that anyone would buy any of our stuff! :p

GESTERN ANGEKOMMEN,SIND DIE BEIDEN ABENDS GLEICH INS PRIVILEGE,LEIDER OHNE MICH MUSS JA ARBEITEN UND DORT SIND SIE  GLEICH GUT VERSACKT BIS IN DIE FRUEHEN MORGENSTUNDEN.TOM SCHLIEF BIS ABENDS 8 UHR UND NOURDIN FAND ICH HEUTE MITTAG ALS ICH VON DER ARBEIT KAM SCHLAFEND VOR.....

IN MEINEM BETT:)

SACHEN GIBTS,,,,,,

The model told US Vogue magazine, "I'm still acting like a 17-year-old – I definitely haven't become middle-aged." Despite running her own business and being a full-time mum to five-year-old Lila, Kate says she still wants to have fun – and defiantly says she won't change for anyone. "I won't be quitting the fags because it's who I am," she said, "I have to be myself, otherwise I'd be a paranoid mess."

When asked about her daughter Lila, Kate softens a little, saying, "I'm a mum, all the time. Every day I put my daughter to bed. I've actually been thinking of moving to the countryside full time so that Lila can have a rural upbringing." Kate currently divides most of her time between her home in London and her sprawling mansion in Gloucestershire, and admits that money isn't something she really has to worry about. "I like making money," she smiles, before adding excitedly, "I'm saving up for a private jet – I'm going to call it the Kate Express."

The 34-year-old also says she would never consider having botox, saying she'd be "embarrassed" if a photographer asked her to frown and she couldn't. We hate to say it, but we think Kate comes across as quite level-headed and sweet in this interview. One thing you couldn't accuse her of is being fake.

source

finally we are no one

01. "Sleep/Swim" – 0:50
02. "Green Grass of Tunnel" – 4:51
03. "We Have a Map of the Piano" – 5:19
04. "Don't Be Afraid, You Have Just Got Your Eyes Closed" – 5:43
05. "Behind Two Hills,,,,A Swimmingpool" – 1:08
06. "K/Half Noise" – 8:41
07. "Now There's That Fear Again" – 3:56
08. "Faraway Swimmingpool" – 2:55
09. "I Can't Feel My Hand Any More, It's Alright, Sleep Still" – 5:40
10. "Finally We Are No One" – 5:07
11. "The Land Between Solar Systems" – 11:58

]]> http://musiqforall.wordpress.com/?p=216 Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:00:04 +0000 musiqforall http://musiqforall.wordpress.com/?p=216

Loksins erum við engin

01. "Svefn/sund" – 0:50
02. "Grasi vaxin göng" – 4:51
03. "Við erum með landakort af píanóinu" – 5:19
04. "Ekki vera hrædd, þú ert bara með augun lokuð" – 5:43
05. "Á bakvið tvær hæðir,,,,sundlaug" – 1:08
06. "K/hálft óhljóð" – 8:41
07. "Nú snýr óttinn aftur" – 3:56
08. "Sundlaug í buskanum" – 2:55
09. "Ég finn ekki fyrir hendinni á mér, en það er allt í lagi, liggðu bara kyrr" – 5:40
10. "Loksins erum við engin" – 5:07
11. "Sveitin milli solkerfa" – 11:58