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Tuesday
Well, this was my 30teenth birthday, and although I spent the morning at work, I felt like carp. Went home and felt bleurgh. In the end, couldn't even cope with going to see Tigertailz, let alone getting it together to go to The Calling, although by the look of the photos I really missed out. [sniff] Definitely going to have to make a trip up next year! Crashed out early, after watching Swordfish from the sofa, and watching part of Fellowship Of The Ring with my mum (until the chase aspect got too much for her. Bless).
Wednesday & Thursday
Spent the morning curled up on a beanbag, reading, and awaiting the delivery of the bed. The bed was eventually delivered just before lunchtime, so I managed to get into London with just enough time to meet![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
interlock for lunch at the Texan Embassy before she had to dash back for a meeting. Apologies for not being the sparky soul that I usually attempt to be, but compliments on the devastatingly co-ordinated outfit. Then to Kings Cross to meet up with Kelly and attempt to track down the Futon Warehouse that I couldn't find on Saturday - which appeared to have become a development of flats, so had a coffee instead. Then to Birkbeck for the last day of term, and to hand in my assignment. Managed to last through the first lecture before two of my classmates told me that I really should go home, as I looked awful. Eventually accepted that they had a point, and bailed.
Thursday was spent feeling carp.
Friday & B-Movie
Spent most of Friday in bed, but managed to drag myself out late afternoon to Purley's internet cafe to check mail and post briefly. So looking forward to being ill in a flat with broadband... Marcus (WINOLJ) turned up early evening, having come down from York by way of a day's work at Faulty Towers (sponsors of East Croydon railway station), in time for us to nuke a couple of curries, and then head up to B-Movie. Navigation only slightly hampered by the fact that it was me navigating, and we made about five circuits around the block, to eventually locate a parking space ("Turn right ... just there ... missed it. OK, try again next time.") Parking eventually acheived, made it to the club, although substantially later than usual. Determined not to overdo it, I decided that I would only dance to slow stuff. Got up for Sisters of Mercy, and thencharlie_mouse made another of her attempts to kill me with Snake River Conspiracy. Some people have suggested that it was dancing to that which finally killed off the flu virus. Great to see a huge number of people (who I definitely can't list, so pretend that your names are here if you were there and spoke to me), and dancing to Poison with littleangel_103, meryc, and Chloe (WINOLJ) was definitely fun. Even managed to provide firedraken with her promised dance as well. Eventually picked up the Chocolate Cake O'DoomTM from the cloakroom, and headed out, after multiple farewells, giving Chloe a lift back to Croydon (even if the journey home was somewhat roundabout, my ability to give directions not having improved any during the evening).
Saturday
Saturday dawned bright and early at about midday, and we headed over to the flat with assorted items of furniture, food, and bedding. Spent most of the afternoon finally putting the bed together and then Marcus went on to get carried away and put a drawer together while I attempted to see to the catering. 6pm came and went, as did 7, with no sign of guests, but a few apologies from those too lurgied to make it. First arrivals werelost_house and 'her' Marcus, which made for some confusing conversation, as neither M was used to there being more than one in the room. Next were gothstevek and silverfiligree, fresh from Steve's birthday meal in South Norwood, soon followed by incy. First installment of party went well, and then the first guest not dressed in black arrived (allowing for lost_house's brown boots), Chloe, bearing apologies from those who hadn't been able to make it over from DJ Stevie's bash. She was followed in rapid succession by flickgc, bearing an lproven that she'd found skulking around the neighbourhood, and swisstone, tamaranth, and ladymoonray following swiftly after. Sadly, incy had to head off early, due to lack of alternative transport homewards, but I think that the flat can be declared well and truly warmed. Also, thanks due to lproven, who would appear to have done some tidying up before leaving.
Sunday & Monday
As per the summary. Not a lot. Except eating more of the Chocolate Cake O'DoomTM, and packing the loaned furniture back up for the return trip. Then watching Swordfish again (bit of tradition of action movies when visiting Marcus, being returned), and then that masterpiece Showdown in Little Tokyo, a film in which Brandon Lee's acting is outclassed by the star - Dolph Lundgren. So glad I taped it off the TV. Back to work on Monday, and home again in the evening to discover that Marcus's journey north was unencumbered by his hat, coat, or bedroll, as they are all still at my parents'. Glad to see someone else packs like me.
Tuesday
Spent most of the day arguing with a new XP machine about whether it could find the network or not, and then reassuring two of my colleagues panicking about the evening's party, for which they were allegedly responsible. Felt slightly underdressed as they all smartened themselves up for the evening ahead, while I merely had a sleeveless t-shirt stuffed into my bag. Went to the Christmas Party for about an hour, ate a rather excessive quantity of bread and humous, had my one free drink, and then headed off before I start flirting too excessively with a colleague's fine decolletage.
Arrival at the Astoria was something like an additional birthday event - first bumping into Ziggy and Cheri from the Ship, then Emily from B-Movie, before the sudden appearance ofmeryc, hsw, nils, ladycat, rosenkavalier, and incy en masse almost succeeded in drowning out the francophone strains of the support act. Went for a wander, having had the locks of redshira pointed out at the opposite corner, after hitting the merchandise stand hard and then entrusting unnecessary garb to the cloakroom staff. Managed to trip over the extended base of the barrier as I rushed to greet her, but through a fortuitous coincidence, have a comfortable landing [grin] (later to be re-enacted by a combination of meryc and _lois_). Then wandered a little more, until encountering _lois_, who valiantly aided me in ignoring the support act some more. Waved frenziedly at charlie_mouse and s0b, and H's friend, who seemed nice, if a smidgeon confused (sorry, didn't catch the name!) Also wandered over to be rude to minusbat, who took it particularly well, especially as he was accompanying another mutual friend who I hadn't seen for years. s0b amused himself in between songs by yelling out Sisters track titles at the band he described as "the French Sisters of Mercy". Does anyone remember the name of the support act?
Anyhow, once the Army took to the stage, it was into the pit, shirts off, etc, etc. While there spottedload_of_flannel and Hatchet before it all got hectic. Managed to acquire footprints on both shoulders, including from some swine who appeared to be wearing brand-new boots, to judge by the sharpness of the tread. Ziggy and minusbat and I all took shifts under his left foot, and there seemed to be an equal number of substitutions under the right. Whirled past godgirl at some point, and lproven as well. A brief spin with Hatchet came a mild cropper on the slippery floor, but he later beat that with a stunning sustained display of macho survival, supporting a fairly hefty soul upon his shoulders for the entire duration of IIRC "Green and Grey". Also bumped into Aideen, who has certainly changed, and who gave a fine display of shoulder-standing during "Stupid Questions", as well as Jules who was at law college with me, and the guy who sat on my shoulders during Killing Joke, as well as a couple of other faces that I recognised from that gig. All one big happy (sweaty) friendly family!
As for the setlist, it was excellent, although this seems to have been successfully covered by many other writers (many of whom appear above) - lots of favourites to dance to, together with a number of good shoulder-standing tracks, and a mention of the Shipping Forecast ...
End the post-gig comedown withlproven and I commiserating Emily, whose steel-caps had died during the day, forcing her to attempt the mosh with merely a pair of Docs, and Sam, who seemed to have taken quite a blow to the cheek. Momentary mental toying with the idea of heading up to Nottingham for Tuesday's gig, before certain facts intrude (such as work, the lack of transport, the lack of a ticket, and work again).
Looking forward to the DVD! (There was some discussion of this seeming somewhat un-NMA-ish, but we decided that seeing as DVDs can now be put together and burnt in Bradford bedrooms, this is returning to the correct spirit ...)
Wednesday
Morning booked off work to recover, despite feeling remarkably unbroken, but as the day went on, my back began to ache more. It's bearable, unless I breathe in especially deeply, and has since recovered, but made the day interesting.
Well, this was my 30teenth birthday, and although I spent the morning at work, I felt like carp. Went home and felt bleurgh. In the end, couldn't even cope with going to see Tigertailz, let alone getting it together to go to The Calling, although by the look of the photos I really missed out. [sniff] Definitely going to have to make a trip up next year! Crashed out early, after watching Swordfish from the sofa, and watching part of Fellowship Of The Ring with my mum (until the chase aspect got too much for her. Bless).
Wednesday & Thursday
Spent the morning curled up on a beanbag, reading, and awaiting the delivery of the bed. The bed was eventually delivered just before lunchtime, so I managed to get into London with just enough time to meet
interlock for lunch at the Texan Embassy before she had to dash back for a meeting. Apologies for not being the sparky soul that I usually attempt to be, but compliments on the devastatingly co-ordinated outfit. Then to Kings Cross to meet up with Kelly and attempt to track down the Futon Warehouse that I couldn't find on Saturday - which appeared to have become a development of flats, so had a coffee instead. Then to Birkbeck for the last day of term, and to hand in my assignment. Managed to last through the first lecture before two of my classmates told me that I really should go home, as I looked awful. Eventually accepted that they had a point, and bailed.Thursday was spent feeling carp.
Friday & B-Movie
Spent most of Friday in bed, but managed to drag myself out late afternoon to Purley's internet cafe to check mail and post briefly. So looking forward to being ill in a flat with broadband... Marcus (WINOLJ) turned up early evening, having come down from York by way of a day's work at Faulty Towers (sponsors of East Croydon railway station), in time for us to nuke a couple of curries, and then head up to B-Movie. Navigation only slightly hampered by the fact that it was me navigating, and we made about five circuits around the block, to eventually locate a parking space ("Turn right ... just there ... missed it. OK, try again next time.") Parking eventually acheived, made it to the club, although substantially later than usual. Determined not to overdo it, I decided that I would only dance to slow stuff. Got up for Sisters of Mercy, and then
charlie_mouse made another of her attempts to kill me with Snake River Conspiracy. Some people have suggested that it was dancing to that which finally killed off the flu virus. Great to see a huge number of people (who I definitely can't list, so pretend that your names are here if you were there and spoke to me), and dancing to Poison with littleangel_103, meryc, and Chloe (WINOLJ) was definitely fun. Even managed to provide firedraken with her promised dance as well. Eventually picked up the Chocolate Cake O'DoomTM from the cloakroom, and headed out, after multiple farewells, giving Chloe a lift back to Croydon (even if the journey home was somewhat roundabout, my ability to give directions not having improved any during the evening).Saturday
Saturday dawned bright and early at about midday, and we headed over to the flat with assorted items of furniture, food, and bedding. Spent most of the afternoon finally putting the bed together and then Marcus went on to get carried away and put a drawer together while I attempted to see to the catering. 6pm came and went, as did 7, with no sign of guests, but a few apologies from those too lurgied to make it. First arrivals were
lost_house and 'her' Marcus, which made for some confusing conversation, as neither M was used to there being more than one in the room. Next were gothstevek and silverfiligree, fresh from Steve's birthday meal in South Norwood, soon followed by incy. First installment of party went well, and then the first guest not dressed in black arrived (allowing for lost_house's brown boots), Chloe, bearing apologies from those who hadn't been able to make it over from DJ Stevie's bash. She was followed in rapid succession by flickgc, bearing an lproven that she'd found skulking around the neighbourhood, and swisstone, tamaranth, and ladymoonray following swiftly after. Sadly, incy had to head off early, due to lack of alternative transport homewards, but I think that the flat can be declared well and truly warmed. Also, thanks due to lproven, who would appear to have done some tidying up before leaving.Sunday & Monday
As per the summary. Not a lot. Except eating more of the Chocolate Cake O'DoomTM, and packing the loaned furniture back up for the return trip. Then watching Swordfish again (bit of tradition of action movies when visiting Marcus, being returned), and then that masterpiece Showdown in Little Tokyo, a film in which Brandon Lee's acting is outclassed by the star - Dolph Lundgren. So glad I taped it off the TV. Back to work on Monday, and home again in the evening to discover that Marcus's journey north was unencumbered by his hat, coat, or bedroll, as they are all still at my parents'. Glad to see someone else packs like me.
Tuesday
Spent most of the day arguing with a new XP machine about whether it could find the network or not, and then reassuring two of my colleagues panicking about the evening's party, for which they were allegedly responsible. Felt slightly underdressed as they all smartened themselves up for the evening ahead, while I merely had a sleeveless t-shirt stuffed into my bag. Went to the Christmas Party for about an hour, ate a rather excessive quantity of bread and humous, had my one free drink, and then headed off before I start flirting too excessively with a colleague's fine decolletage.
Arrival at the Astoria was something like an additional birthday event - first bumping into Ziggy and Cheri from the Ship, then Emily from B-Movie, before the sudden appearance of
meryc, hsw, nils, ladycat, rosenkavalier, and incy en masse almost succeeded in drowning out the francophone strains of the support act. Went for a wander, having had the locks of redshira pointed out at the opposite corner, after hitting the merchandise stand hard and then entrusting unnecessary garb to the cloakroom staff. Managed to trip over the extended base of the barrier as I rushed to greet her, but through a fortuitous coincidence, have a comfortable landing [grin] (later to be re-enacted by a combination of meryc and _lois_). Then wandered a little more, until encountering _lois_, who valiantly aided me in ignoring the support act some more. Waved frenziedly at charlie_mouse and s0b, and H's friend, who seemed nice, if a smidgeon confused (sorry, didn't catch the name!) Also wandered over to be rude to minusbat, who took it particularly well, especially as he was accompanying another mutual friend who I hadn't seen for years. s0b amused himself in between songs by yelling out Sisters track titles at the band he described as "the French Sisters of Mercy". Does anyone remember the name of the support act?Anyhow, once the Army took to the stage, it was into the pit, shirts off, etc, etc. While there spotted
load_of_flannel and Hatchet before it all got hectic. Managed to acquire footprints on both shoulders, including from some swine who appeared to be wearing brand-new boots, to judge by the sharpness of the tread. Ziggy and minusbat and I all took shifts under his left foot, and there seemed to be an equal number of substitutions under the right. Whirled past godgirl at some point, and lproven as well. A brief spin with Hatchet came a mild cropper on the slippery floor, but he later beat that with a stunning sustained display of macho survival, supporting a fairly hefty soul upon his shoulders for the entire duration of IIRC "Green and Grey". Also bumped into Aideen, who has certainly changed, and who gave a fine display of shoulder-standing during "Stupid Questions", as well as Jules who was at law college with me, and the guy who sat on my shoulders during Killing Joke, as well as a couple of other faces that I recognised from that gig. All one big happy (sweaty) friendly family!As for the setlist, it was excellent, although this seems to have been successfully covered by many other writers (many of whom appear above) - lots of favourites to dance to, together with a number of good shoulder-standing tracks, and a mention of the Shipping Forecast ...
End the post-gig comedown with
lproven and I commiserating Emily, whose steel-caps had died during the day, forcing her to attempt the mosh with merely a pair of Docs, and Sam, who seemed to have taken quite a blow to the cheek. Momentary mental toying with the idea of heading up to Nottingham for Tuesday's gig, before certain facts intrude (such as work, the lack of transport, the lack of a ticket, and work again).Looking forward to the DVD! (There was some discussion of this seeming somewhat un-NMA-ish, but we decided that seeing as DVDs can now be put together and burnt in Bradford bedrooms, this is returning to the correct spirit ...)
Wednesday
Morning booked off work to recover, despite feeling remarkably unbroken, but as the day went on, my back began to ache more. It's bearable, unless I breathe in especially deeply, and has since recovered, but made the day interesting.
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Bizarre innit? I remember feeling a bit guilty when I bought my first Army CD since it wasn't really in the spirit of things...
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I spent Nottingham gig with the guys off the NMA board, bounced around in the moshpit with them (ouch), plus with the aftershow club thingy at Rock City and having the car, we didn't have to rush off, so spent about an hour afterwards sitting around chatting and catching up. I know everyone goes on about the NMA family and some people get it and some people just don't. But this past year it really has felt like family, and what with some people at the Notts gig that weren't in London, it really was like having all the family there. Oh yeah and the small matter of snogging TEQ ;)
hmmmm that wasn't exactly short !
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Looking for family, searching for tribe ... [grin]
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Er... there was still /some/ to be done...
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