Well, I was hoping to have photographs from two different gigs to pick from this week. Unfortunately I was denied a photopass at the first one, and the second one was cancelled.

So, no gig photos; instead, here’s a demonstration of how PicoCon’s organisers ensured no one got lost between the tube station and the venue:

Who says science fiction fans can’t keep it lo-fi, eh?

Writing about music:

Less gig reviewing than initially expected – see above.

Been battling to keep up the one-album-review-per-day regime at TDP, and have just kept my head above the water; I need to play catch-up over the weekend to give myself a buffer zone again.

I had the opportunity to revisit Gary Numan’s Replicas – how groundbreaking was that album? And I don’t care how dated the synth patches are, the signature riff from “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” still stirs the neck-hairs every time.

Writing about books:

Technically zilch. Have hardly read more than a chapter of Wolfe, either.

Futurismic:

Various behind-the-scenes stuff continues apace at Futurismic, though at a somewhat reduced rate over the last week.

Just a few final adjustments to make over the weekend, and then it’s the return of original fiction to Futurismic on Monday! wh00t!

YACP*:

Despite the sparseness of the above, this week has been absolute bedlam and panic in Velcro City Towers. But the deadline was met; the task completed; the dragon slain.

What was I doing? Oh, you’re just going to have to wait to find out, I’m afraid …

Books and magazines seen:

Nowt of note.

Coda:

If this all seems a little sparse and disappointing to FPB fans, I must apologise; this week has essentially been a game of survival against the odds.

The afore-mentioned deadline of doom (combined with a mild bug I picked up at PicoCon) meant all my efforts have been devoted to not dropping any of the metaphorical balls.

Frankly, I’m proud to have made it to Friday having achieved exactly that, even if it meant skipping out on FFF for this week.

So while there’s plenty to be done over the weekend, I’m feeling pretty relaxed right now, safe in the knowledge that I don’t need to be sat at this here keyboard until past my bedtime just to avoid calamity.

I think I even have enough flex in my schedule to pop out for a beer or two with the gang before coming home and sitting down to an hour or so buried in a book before bedtime – ah, decadence! But first things first – yesterday’s (comparatively) healthy repast must be counteracted with The Friday Curry Of Tradition And Merit.

And d’you know what? This week, I really feel I’ve earned the damned thing.

Have a great weekend, folks. Hasta luego!

[ * Yet Another Clandestine Project. ]

Part of the joy of houseplants (for me at least) is observing their slow but steady growth. Despite the paucity of sunlight we’ve had this summer, my poinsettia is still cheerfully branching off new shoots every few weeks. I’m hoping it goes properly red come the winter season.

[As the above picture may suggest, I've not been out and about with my camera in the last week or so, as explained further down ...]

Terrorist or tourist?

One of the downsides of working on a Naval Base is the occasional bomb scare, often caused by some hapless visitor leaving a rucksack on the ground and forgetting about it. Not usually a problem, but today one caused the closure of the gate I usually leave by, necessitating a somewhat longer journey home. Such are the terrible trials of life.

Dawn of the Deadlines

Other than that, this week has been fairly devoid of exciting events, I’m afraid. I was a judge for the Wedgewood Rooms Showcase again on Tuesday night (it runs over the entire summer, essentially, wrapping up with the final in October), but that’s been about it as far as leaving the house is concerned. As I mentioned earlier in the week, a whole lot of deadlines have coincided on one small patch of time, so I’ve been focusing on getting things done that need doing … hence blog silence but for the daily link-dumps.

A similar state of affairs may well persist for the next few weeks, too – I’m covering for a colleague’s holiday leave for the next fortnight, which means I’m working the equivalent of full-time hours over that period, and hence my evenings will be largely consumed with various reviewing and writing tasks that I’m committed to doing. Hopefully I’ll find time to do something more substantial here once or twice. After all, you’d be destitute without my gritty pearls of wisdom. Or something.

But hey, at least people are asking me to write things for them – and while none of them are paid work, it’s a change to be asked rather than having to hustle. And one little project may turn into paid work in the long run – a friend is involved with the start-up of a downloadable gaming magazine, and they’ve asked me to do a column on Second Life. It’s gratifying to get a chance to write about things that you know well and care about!

Books and magazines seen

A slow week, really.

One magazine, in the form of July’s F&SF – arriving three days after the issue succeeding it, naturally. Three cheers for the weirdness of transAtlantic surface mail!

And one book of a totally non-science fictional nature – I am the proud possessor of a copy of the Catalogue of Oil Paintings in Public Ownership for the Hampshire region. Because there are some pictures from the RNM listed in it, they sent us a few free copies, and one of them has ended up with me thanks to my name being plucked from the metaphorical hat.

So I have a very classy and intellectual-looking coffee-table book of prodigious size … now all I need is a coffee-table to put it on.

Albums seen

In the absence of much literary traffic in my postbox, I’ll take the time to plug a few CDs that I’m very happy to have been sent in the last week-and-a-bit:

• Mercury by Laika Dog – Laika Dog are the current band of ex-Terrorvision frontman Tony Wright, arguably the most earnest and affable man in British rock music during the nineties. Laikadog aren’t quite so rocky as Terrorvision, but if you like Tony’s songwriting, you’ll not be disappointed by this at all.
• High by New Model Army – New Model Army should need no introduction to anyone who’s going to be interested in this album, so suffice to say it delivers exactly what we’ve come to expect from the band over their lengthy career. Good stuff.
• Transworld Ultra Rock by Electric Eel Shock – Japanese band who do a great tongue-in-cheek pastiche of classic Sabbath-style metal. Loads of fun, and if you ever get the chance to see them play live, rest assured you will not resent the very reasonable ticket prices. Real performers, and a great laugh.

Aaaah, free music. I wish I’d got onto the reviewing train earlier in my life, I’d have saved myself a fortune – and been far more clued up by now.

Coda

Well, that was comparatively brief and painless, wasn’t it? I always feel a bit disappointed when I have little to report on a Friday afternoon, though I don’t operate under the illusion that anyone else is that bothered. I think it just reminds me that my life isn’t really as thrilling as I might like to think … but then, that’s no one’s fault if not my own, I suppose.

Things would be simpler if the exciting stuff was more evenly distributed, but instead it appears to lurk like seams of mineral deposits in tracts of otherwise featureless stone. Selah.

Right. Friday afternoon, work and FPB done for the week – which means it’s nearly time for The Friday Curry Of Legend And Myth. I’m hoping to get enough of my writing work done over the weekend that I have time to get outside for a while, but having heard the weather reports I’m not sure if that’s going to be a wasted effort or not. Let’s hope the reports are wrong, eh?

Anyway, whatever you have planned for the weekend yourselves, I hope it goes well for you – indoors or out. Hasta luego, amigos.

The least-mimicked and least interesting meme on the entire intarwebs makes its triumphant return! Ladies and gentlemen, we give you…Friday Plant Blogging!

Continue reading “Friday Plant Blogging! Front Room Fig”