In the last Life Coaching entry I gave a brief description of Life Coaching, why it is important and how it differs from counselling. I received a lot of positive and supportive comments. Thank you! Some of your comments were left here at Village Soup but most were sent to my website.

Today I want to talk about positive thinking. When discussing Life Coaching I often hear people remark, “yea, I find positive thinking to be very helpful.” While I agree with that statement I want to make it clear that Life Coaching goes beyond positive thinking. Of course it’s helpful to see the cup as half full rather than half empty. However, there can be a pitfall to this approach. If one tries to cover up negative emotions with positive thinking it often backfires. I call this a “spiritual by-pass”. For example, let’s say I got laid off from my job and I am upset about it. I can tell myself that everything is ok, don’t worry be happy. I could tell myself not to be upset because not much good comes from that. There are times when using positive thinking like this will work but more often than not it won’t because I am not honoring the part of me that is upset. I’m not being true to myself.

Life Coaching is about honoring and integrating all parts of ourselves. If I want to live an authentic life I need to experience my experience, which means feel my feelings good or bad, knowing that who I am is not my feelings. This takes practice. Over time, you develop faith. Faith that through the process of experiencing your negative feelings you will experience joy on the other side. Once I have fully felt my upset I remind myself that I can choose where to focus my thoughts in relation to this feeling. When I forget that I have the ability to choose my response (or response-ability), I will know because I fall into automatic reactionary mode. Indications of this include making the other person wrong, making the situation wrong or making myself wrong. There’s nothing wrong with that. (There’s nothing wrong period, but that’s a subject for a future blog entry.) It just means that nothing will shift, I will have less response choices and I have lost an opportunity to grow.

On the other hand, if I do remember that I have the ability to choose my response then I pause and take a breath. I call this, “the power of the pause”. After a breath I ask myself, “what universal value am I yearning for right NOW?” In this example, the answer might be “stability, to be seen as competent and financial freedom”. Now I will take 10 seconds (feels like an hour sometimes) and focus on those universal values. I repeat to myself a few times: “I have a yearning for competence, stability and financial freedom.” Now, the so-called problem, being laid off, hasn’t changed. However, I now feel physically lighter, I’m energized and more response options arise. Again, this gets easier with practice and it is usually easier with to with the support of another person.

So, instead of simply telling myself that everything is ok I feel the negative feelings fully. Next I ask myself, “what is important to me here?” I know that what I focus on expands so I focus on my universal values instead of making myself, the situation or the other person wrong. Then a shift happens and more options on how to deal with the situation arise.

For a strange example of how automatic I can fall into reactionary mode pleas read my letter to the editor under the title “Customer Service Blues” or “Life is But a Dream” in the Dec. 31 edition of Village Soup.

As a child of the ’80’s, I was the proud owner of a Soda Stream- and it’s now making a come back..with a little help from a few designer names!

Soda Stream opened a pop-up shop in Camden last week, attended by celebrity/interior designer Meg Matthews (above), who helped customise the fizz-making machines. London Fashion Week designer Emma Bell (left) also made an appearance to put her design skills to good use on some limited edition Soda Streams.

The retro-themed shop was a blast from the past, with an 80’s themed dance floor and games including over-sized Rubik’s Cubes, hand-held Pac-man games and bubble ray-guns. A SodaStream mixologist created virgin cocktails with the latest flavours and combinations.

The revival has started….

If you fancy revisiting your youth, or just ‘getting busy with the fizzy,’ for the first time, check out
Soda Stream’s website for more details.

You know you want to!

fashionbite xx

Courtesy of Julian Shaw

I was lucky enough to get a chance to chat with New York based As Tall As Lions before their first sold-out show in London on Dec 21, 2009.

This is your first time in the UK, and It’s been quite a while coming. A lot of people have been asking why its taken you so long!

Sean – Well, um its very kind of, I don’t wanna say political, but you need connections to get over here. So recently we just had the pleasure of working with a management company over here, so they were kind of the ones who fell in love with the album, supported us as far as our vision of what we wanted to do, and were behind us saying ‘you guys have to come over here. We’ll hook you up with a tour, the whole 9 kinda thing’ and they single handedly were the reason that we didn’t go over before, and went over now.

Julio – Which is pretty endurable because the tour that we were on before, that Athlete tour, I mean it was a very nice sized tour. So to get here for the first time ever and play the rooms that we did, as I’m sure not many bands who come here for the first time get on a gigs like that.

Do you think those gigs were important for raising your profile? In terms of playing with a band like Athlete, who have got such a large UK following.

J – You know for us it was the first tour and we wanted to play in front of as many people as possible, so you know, I believe that as long as you’re doing honest music, people will dig it, so it doesn’t matter who we were playing to or the types of bands or things like that. As long as we got over here and gave a great tour like that.

Did you get a good response from the fans?

J – Yeah we were talking before, it seems like over here things are a bit more tame or reserved when it comes to the crowd expressing themselves…

Especially with Athlete’s more ’subdued’ music style.

J – Yeah and we would never take anything like that personally, you know, so…besides that, the shows have been great and the have pretty much sold out all these clubs we’ve played, so it’s been cool.

So you said about your fans, how do the UK fans compare to the US ones? I guess some people watching you have never heard you?

S – Yeah and that’s the thing, I’ll go to a show and fall in love with a band that I’ve never heard of before…and…probably won’t even clap the entire time.

J – Yeah! (laughing)

S – You know? But I’ll soak it in.

J – And it seems like the demographic of their fans [Athlete] is older, you know, so, older people are not the ones doing backflips in the crowd. I think that had a lot to do with it…

So you’ve been on tour round the UK, what kind of food have you been eating? Petrol station food?

S – A lot of Marks & Spencer’s…greasy food…

Pasties? Things like that?

J – Ah yeah I actually had one of those the other day, like a steak pasty thing? It was terrible…(laughs) it was really bad. Yeah like fish and chips, last night I had fried prawns with corn and peas. That was good.

S – Oh nice. How was that?

J – Oh my god, awesome, other than the corn in my poop earlier. (laughs)

So you also played with Frightened Rabbit up in Scotland, how did those dates go?

S – I hung out with them for a bit. It was only a couple of dates up there. They were really really nice…proper gentlemen that’s for sure.

At their gigs It’s quite a different vibe, quite chilled. Must have been a bit strange for your guys.

S – Well yeah that’s the thing, on record our band is a bit more subdued sometimes, kind of like, more about setting the mood, but live our show is completely different. It’s very high energy, a lot of us moving around and really loud guitars and stuff, so you know, we didn’t know how it was going to play over with those guys. I think the first show was in Aberdeen, and we did this whole big thing, and afterwards we looked out into the crowd and I was like ‘uh oh…maybe we should be sitting down right now’

J – They were scratching their heads a bit..

S – And, most of the compliments were like ‘wow you guys are er…really different…really…physical I wanna say?’ (laughing)

Courtesy of Julian Shaw

So moving on to the new album, are there any themes that run throughout it?

S – Well in a way, yeah. We came up with the album title before we wrote a lot of the songs for it, so in my mind at least, the idea was to have some kind of themes that all went under the umbrella of the concept ‘you can’t take it with you’. Whether that be love or loss, life or death and everything in between. It’s a bunch of scattered concepts, but we felt that if they all kinda tied together that way, we could really do whatever we wanted musically.

And you had some problems with the whole process didn’t you?

S – You know, it was just a very difficult process leading up to even recording the record. We were writing it for a very long time and trying to find what we thought would be the perfect producer to do it. The last couple of albums we did it with the same guy, so we thought we got to make a different record this time, so we might need a different producer. That process made me realise that there is absolutely no such thing as any perfect person to tell you how your music should sound. There was a lot of switching around, I could go on and on, but basically it worked out in the end and we made a record we’re all super proud of. Think a lot of the time those trials and tribulations add the ingredient you can’t put your finger on, for better or worse?

In ‘Lost My Mind’ there is a hidden track. You did a similar thing on the self-titled album too. Do you think this is something you always do or just something that happened?

J – I wouldn’t say it’s a conscious thing we do…

S -Yeah…it was. The idea was we were trying to do a hidden song in the middle of the album, as well as a hidden song at the end of the album, but I feel the more people I speak to, the hidden song in the middle of the album, they just consider part of the song right before it, you can’t really hide a hidden song in the middle of the album really. The one at the end of the album is cool, it’s a little bit of music I wrote, recorded by myself on garage band, and then a friend of ours, Kimbra from New Zealand, put her voice on top of it. I dunno, was it a conscious thing we did?

J – You know, she recorded it, and I’ve always loved the piece itself without the vocals. I wanted to expand upon it a bit more, but to be honest I didn’t get it until we were sitting in the mastering room, and it was the last song they mastered, and I was like ’shit…this is fucking incredible’. But I think it was a conscious effort.

S – Yeah thinking about it makes me want to not do one for the next album… (laughs)

So do you prefer being on the road or being in the studio?

S – Well you’re talking to a bunch of guys who have been on the road for way too long right now…

J – I told Saen a couple of days ago that I’m itching to get in the studio and just put the mics up and stuff. For us it’s not always the pressure like ‘oh we’ve got to make an album now so lets start writing songs’ you know? We are all songwriter and are always writing in between records, so when it comes time we all bring stuff to the table’. Me personally I’m itching to get back in there. Our plan was the get another album out as quickly as possible, to finish this one, tour for a little bit, then try and do another record quickly, but I don’t think anyone saw us touring for 5 months straight so everyone’s pretty exhausted.

Which tracks off any of your albums are you most proud of?

S – Whole catalogue? Wow…crazy. Well one thing for me, maybe for the other guys, the opening track on our last album, ‘Circles’, is one I’m pretty proud of as it came together absolute last minute, right before we went to California to record it. It was also one where we were all in the same room when we wrote it, and it all came together in a matter of minutes, really. Everything just sort of lined up, and it’s those little instances that is what making and recording is about. So to me, in a way, it’s one of the most successful songs we wrote. As a musicians you’re always trying to achieve that ‘thing’.

J – Almost like a magical spark, when you can’t remember or tell how the fuck the song was written? And you still really love it? That’s a good thing.

Have you every felt pressured to write for time constraints or things like that?

S – Well, I don’t think any musician would be happy with what they do! (laughs). Maybe I’m just speaking on my own behalf, but you tend to listen to the mistakes rather than the things that worked. As far as time constraints?

J – Yeah well we did an EP after the self-titled record, that our label was like ‘oh you guys should do an EP…and you only have two weeks to get in the studio, finish the songs and record them’. That EP was definitely like…pressure cooker. We had bits of songs finished, but we still went into the studio and everyone was unhappy with how it came out, but, now, when I think about it, that’s what made the whole thing really cool. We’re the type of band that take FUCKING FOREVER to do everything and over analyses every little thing, so we had no chance to do any of those things. I feel like you’re never actually DONE with something, you’re more just like ‘yeah I’m fed up with it’. You could write a song for 25 years if you like…

Is there anything that influenced you on this album?

J – Yeah sure, there is this performance piece called Fuerza Bruta in New York…

S – I dunno how you would even describe it…I guess I would say acrobatics? It’s pretty indescribable…

J – Almost this like surreal…abstract thing. That was one of the biggest influences for us when we went and we saw it, we were like ’shit…the way this looks is how we want our record to sound’. That for us was huge, and even with ‘Circles’ I still hear that and feel that whole inspiration.

So what are the plans for the future? More touring?

J – (Laughs) We fly home tomorrow. 2 days in New York, then a show Chicago…then I think, we have more shows? (laugher)

S – I don’t know..

Don’t keep track, just step on the bus, step off the bus kinda thing?

J – (laughs) Yeah I think it keeps it more exciting that way. Then we have some time off during the holidays, then we have the whole of January off to get some writing/recording done…maybe a book? Something like that, and then as of now, February could see us coming back here and the rest of Europe as well, then a headline tour in March and April…

Thanks to the guys for taking time out to do the interview! This is a slightly scaled down version, anyone who wants it email me mark@letmetouchyourface.co.uk

The Worlds most illusive street artist has struck again, this time dropping some political bombs down on the canal near camden market (UK).

Listen to a Londoner. This is a weekly post where people who live (or have lived for a while) in London answer a few questions about the Big Smoke. If you fit the bill and want to be interviewed, give me a shout at littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.co.uk. Always looking for new victims volunteers….

 Rakeem Neil Peebles-Nazir, 33

Rakeem is a journalist and writer who moved here, studied here and will, most likely, live out his days here; a naturalised Londoner, who discovered that it’s much more interesting to be Scottish somewhere other than Scotland!

LLO: How long have you lived in London?
RNP-N: I’ve lived in London for 11 and a half years. I moved here in may ‘98 when I was only 22. The day before I moved to London, I didn’t know I was moving. It was a snap decision at about 7.30am!

LLO: Where are you from originally?
RNP-N: I’m originally from Edinburgh. Beautiful place, but too cold for my liking.

LLO: Best thing about London?
RNP-N: The best thing about London is the fact that it’s so big. There is so much to do and see. I think I could live here the rest of my life and not see most of it.

LLO: Best place to catch a gig?
RNP-N: Best place I’ve been to catch a gig was the Dublin Castle in Camden. I’ve been quite a few times and am rarely disappointed by what’s on.

LLO: Favourite London discovery?
RNP-N: My favourite London discovery is a cool little Polish vodka bar behind Holborn station. The way the alleyway is built, it’s totally hidden from view from the main street. It’s not very big, but they have every flavour of vodka you could think of and some really nice Polish beers too. It used to be called Na Zdrowie, but I don’t know what it’s called these days… I must go check soon! [Editor’s Note: Because no one could pronounce the name, it’s now called Bar Polski.]

LLO: Best time of year in London?
RNP-N: The best time of year in London is definitely the middle of summer. If we’re lucky enough to be enjoying a heat wave, there’s no better place. All the parks fill up with people, the streets are awash with happy faces… even the traffic seems to slow down a bit. The only downside is being on the tube for any length of time!

LLO: First place to take a visitor?
RNP-N: The first place I’d take a visitor to the city is the London Eye. I can’t think of a better way to show someone the city than to see that view of it from over the rooftops before setting out to explore it.

LLO: Boris is…
RNP-N: …probably going to go down in history as London’s greatest ever mayor. He’s pure comedy value, which is where I think half of his votes came from and the other half are from those of us that think he’s a lot more astute than he let’s on. He might well witter when he’s speaking, but he’s still got a good head for politics. Well, I think he does, anyway.

LLO: What would you change about the city if you had the power to do so?
RNP-N: If I could change one thing about the city, I’d have the tubes running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For the relatively small amount of people that would use it through the night, you could easily afford to have some of those Police Community Support Officers on every train during the night and London would be that bit safer.

LLO: Best place to spend a Sunday afternoon?
RNP-N: For me, the best place to spend a Sunday is quietly reading my newspaper over breakfast with friends somewhere in the city centre. I’m a big fan of Covent Garden, but down by the river’s really nice too. Then slope off somewhere to watch the football. It’s what Sundays are all about!

Thanks Rakeem!

I am not into fads, especially those rising from the wreckage that is the entertainment industry.

That is not intended as an insult to my very hardworking and very talented friends working as journalists covering the entertainment industry. No, those hardworking and talented people come up with their very own fads … that I tend to ignore, also.

So I have stayed away from bothering with the resurgence of vampires on TV and cinema screens and in posters and whatnot purchased by teenagers. Just not interested.

But here I go writing – although very briefly – about vampires.

As I do often, I was checking out DownEast.com and went to its Maine trivia question. Today’s was:

What town is the basis for Collinsport in the Gothic horror soap opera “Dark Shadows”?

The answer surprised me:

Bar Harbor

I am not sure why it surprised me, after all, for as long as I can recall movies and TV have filmed in Maine or been “set” in Maine. (i.e. “Murder She Wrote” was set in Maine, but the bulk of the filming was done in California. My first job out of college was in Mendocino, Calif., where some exterior scenes were shot. Sunsets were shot at sunrise, etc.)

 “Peyton Place,” “Captains Courageous” and “In the Bedroom” were filmed in Camden, which is the community that jumped to mind when I first read the question. They even have the Camden International Film Festival.

“The Cider House Rules” also was filmed in Maine.

Stephen King is perhaps the most famous Maine resident and many of his tales are set in smalltown Maine. But as far as I could tell, only “Pet Semetary,” “The Storm of the Century,” and “Thinner” were made in Maine.

You might have noticed that two TV adaptations of King’s vampire tale, “Salem’s Lot,” were not listed here. That is because the 1979 version was filmed in Eureka, Calif., and Ferndale, Calif., according to the Internet Movie Database, which are two fine Northern California towns that Mainers would not mind visiting, trust me. And the 2004 version was filmed in Australia. That’s what IMDB says, Australia.

I looked for a more comprehensive list of films shot in Maine, but did not immediately find one. I will update this post with the list or a link to the list should I find it.

Here are links to a couple of other Maine/New England film and video websites.

• Maine Film Office
• Northeast Historic Film

Oh, by the way, IMDB says the 1966 version of “Dark Shadows,” the show mentioned in the trivia question, was filmed in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York City. The 1991 version was filmed in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles. Go figure.

The first gig of the year took place at Proud Galleries in Camden, I can still recall the walk from the tube station to the Lock, on a freezing cold evening when I saw just one person on my way to the gig. Camden a ghost town? It really was that night, but forty or so brave souls showed up to see Krakatoa play a set that soon warmed the crowd up.

Fast forward three and a half months to a beautiful spring day in April. 360 Degree Music are hosting the Camden Crawl at Tommy Flynn’s, a hostelry situated between Mornington Crescent and Camden stations. Actually, it’s the Camden Trawl, as the venue is not officially part of the Crawl, but that doesn’t stop us from having bigger crowds than many of the official venues.

Thirteen bands play in twelve hours, everyone goes on at the scheduled time, there are only three minor skirmishes, no ones head gets busted, and stars of the day are Krakatoa, (yes it’s them again, and this time they are headlining this extravaganza); The Supernovas, (a storming set that wins the best reception of the day on their North London home turf); Rum Shebeen, (proving once again what a great band they are, but why only one single in three years?); a wonderful debut set by Savants; Reader’s Wives’ London debut, which is a totally assured, singalong affair; a rollicking, Beatlesque, Motown meets the modern age set by Inwits; and a sparse solo performance from Paul Liddell, which wins plaudits from journalist Gavin Martin.

Stroll On’s remarkable residency at central London’s The Social provided several highlights of the year, with The Metros’ penultimate gig in March, which drew a sellout crowd by 9.30; Mozzy Green’s beautiful intensity enrapturing the audience in April, and an astonishing aural barrage/sonic symphony from Screaming Tea Party in June. Later in the year, Gringo Star ,The Supernovas and Yves Klein Blue gave garland winning performances on a glorious night in November.

Also in November, Reader’s Wives returned to London with storming sets at two packed-to-the-rafters gigs at Peter Parker’s in old Tin Pan Alley, and Tommy Flynn’s (I see a theme developing here…). The same week bore witness to three shows from Sweden’s psychsters Mono Stereo, who played a fine show at Kentish Town’s Flowerpot, and an absolute stormer supporting Violens at Proud Galleries.

Upon returning to Dublin, Reader’s Wives played a launch show, in support of their ‘Secrecy & Sex’ EP, at Dublin’s stunning Odessa Club. Contraceptives were dispatched into the crowd from the stage, people drank and danced, and a jolly good time was had by all. Support band Mozzy Green were disappointed with their own performance, but they were the only ones, and they received a warm reception from a very warm and appreciative audience (that’s Dublin for ya!).

Talking of Dublin, Krakatoa and The Supernovas both visited the fair city in July for their debut Irish shows, both winning many fans and compliments. Both bands also followed their return to London with single launches, Krakatoa selling out the Legion on a warm July night, and The Supernovas repeating the feat in a sweaty night at The Social at the beginning of August.

Oh, did I mention that Krakatoa played 18 gigs in 18 nights, supporting Alabama 3 on a trek that took in the length and breadth of the country. And Gaoler’s Daughter and The Supernovas playing high profile support slots with Babyshambles?

2009’s live activity ends with a show at the Stroll On Christmas party, at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen on Monday 22^nd December. Krakatoa, The Supernovas and Inwits will all play – IT’S GONNA GO OFF!

Back in August I had the opportunity to visit Maine (albeit very briefly) to help a friend move the remainder of his belongings to the not-so-blue grass of Kentucky.  I couldn’t have been more excited; after years of longing to visit New England – even though I’ve never been there and I grew up in Louisiana – I finally had my chance to see the beloved state of Kenneth Roberts.  Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. 

Granted, I only saw a small part of the state (a very small part); in addition, it was the part of the state most frequented by tourists.  Nevertheless, I fell in love with it and hope to go back often.  I even passed through town mentioned in Hillary’s Travels with Hillary blog on places to visit in Maine (I see now why she has such a love for Maine!)!

Though, I did not get an opportunity to visit Roberts’ estate, I did pass through the county it’s located in! 

Enough of the gushing … below are some snapshots I took in Camden and Liberty (and one other town I forgot the name of).  They’re not much; it was my dad’s HP camera that was only 2 mega-pixels; further, I’m not a good photographer.

i have little or nothing to say except:

it is SO good to be back.

end.

A friend and I went on a road trip yesterday to collect some Christmas presents for ourselves, and others, from a variety of interesting places found along a 186 mile loop through Maine’s Midcoast area. This is what I brought back:

After eating our fill of waffles at the Seabreeze Restaurant on Verona Island, we headed to our first destination – the Sweetgrass Farm Winery & Distillery. There, for $2.50 we tried a variety of fruit wines, port (Peach Smash is delicious), rum, brandy, and their Back River Gin, which has gotten some excellent reviews, and was even to me – a generally non-gin consumer – quite interesting and tasty.

From there in Union, ME, we bebopped over to Morse’s Sauerkraut & European Deli in North Waldoboro. That is a store you can spend excessive amounts of time in. I have yet to actually try their kraut, but I usually come away with fun English tea cakes or Turkish Delights.

Since we were so close, from there we had to buzz up the road to Moody’s Diner for a piece of pie. Moody’s has been a Rt. 1 tradition since 1927, and their pie is really quite excellent.

Headed back in the direction of home but by no means finished shopping, we went to Rockport to check out the State of Maine Cheese Company. After snacking on delicious cheese curds, I got some Kennebec Dill in the “Dinghy” box for my boss, and an “oops” block (less than 8 oz.) for myself.

It gets dark by 3:30 p.m. here, which made for excellent Christmas lights viewing as we came back up Rt. 1 through Camden and Belfast. It occurred to me as we drove along that many more metropolitan areas have specialty shops like these collected onto one lovely street, while we had to spend a day driving around Maine, going to somewhat obscure little towns. I can’t complain though. A day of Christmas shopping with a friend is fun any way you turn it, whether you’re walking from shop to shop, or making a 186 mile tour of your state in brilliant sunshine and the warmth of a cozy car. I suppose I prefer the latter, actually!

The last time I saw Modest Mouse performing live, it was May 2007 – they were raising the roof of the Royal Albert Hall while Liverpool were busy losing in the Champions League final. Since then, a lot has changed. Johnny Marr has taken time out of the band to work with The Cribs; Liverpool are no longer even competing in the Champions League. And this time round, Modest Mouse have swapped the hallowed hall imbued with the spirit of Hendrix for the sardine-packed club atmosphere of Camden’s Electric Ballroom. Their numerous instruments and bandmembers shoehorned onto a stage barely bigger than my bedroom, the band look and sound like a troupe of consummate professionals, ostensibly touring in support of an EP, but in reality taking to the stage out of love for their devoted followers, and love of taking their rural groove out on the road.

Marr’s absence is missed, just. His replacement, Jim Fairchild, cut his teeth in Grandaddy, and there’s no doubt he’s competent enough, but come on, he didn’t spend the 80s writing songs for The Smiths. Luckily, in frontman Isaac Brock, Modest Mouse still have at least one outlandishly talented noisemaker, equally at home screaming into his pickups as he is coaxing crazed feedback from guitars and banjos. The rest of the line-up, meanwhile, is as stable ever – in particular, the twin drum-kit set-up has developed into a ferocious, loose-limbed beast, doing full justice to Jeremiah Green’s intricate studio rhythms.

As predicted, the setlist reflects the recent change in personnel and the band’s record label commitments, with much material ploughed from the No One’s First And You’re Next EP and the last pre-Marr album, Good News For People Who Like Bad News. The older material suits the band well, giving them the chance to rock out in a less nuanced fashion than Marr’s guitar work permitted. Of the new songs, it is the Heath Ledger-related “King Rat” that impresses the most, unfurling from Tom Peloso’s trumpet blares. The EP’s lead single, “Satellite Skin”, is a far tamer invention, part “Float On”, part relative boredom. They should get back to what they do best, as evidenced by the stunning “The Whale Song”, sadly absent from last night’s performance.

On record, Modest Mouse have reaped the benefits of pruning down their more meandering grooves – whereas on The Lonesome Crowded West, five tracks crossed the 6-minute mark on the back of an endless motorik beat, of late they have learnt the virtues of economy in the CD age. By contrast, live, the band really let go, turning ordinarily concise pop songs like “Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes” into the monstrous epics they always threatened to be. And that’s okay, in this setting, because it’s in a club or theatre that we can really appreciate the wonderful musicianship that goes into creating such a behemoth. Distended to at least ten minutes, the song culminated with a ritual bout of Brock screaming into his guitar while the rest of the band played out a stunning tattoo. It was just as thrilling as the first time I witnessed it.

On a tangential note, I’m still intrigued as to how Brock achieves his trademark pitch-warp guitar effect, which combines extreme pitch-shift, sudden de-tuning and a curious kind of harmonic. Needless to say, this technical aside in no way spoiled my enjoyment of this brilliant performance by a band who have taken their seat at the head of the alternative rock table. Devoid of Johnny Marr, they are certainly a little more brutal and less beautiful, but no one can really deny them their strange, sea-faring, trailer-trash-baiting party.

Just when you’d told yourself that this was actually 2009, and you hadn’t hit your head and woken up in the 80s, along comes another piece of memorabilia to get you going all retro again.

The classic fizzy drinks maker SodaStream are having a pop up shop event in Camden this weekend. Go along, create your own mocktail, maybe spark some memories if you had SodaStream first time around. Or see what gadgets were like back in the day if you’re too young to remember it. Either way, it’s a nice trip down 80s lane, and they’ve got a bunch of retro games and old school beats on the go to keep you entertained.

What year is it again?

Photographed by mattack

Behemoth’s bass rig

– License

Looking to escape the holiday craziness? Want to chill and enjoy winter’s chill? Steal away to one of these inns I recommended on the WCSH-TV show 207. Quite a few have special packages, so be sure to check the web sites.

The Crocker Pond House, Bethel: Perfect for those who might want to do some early-season skiing at Sunday River. Lovely, owner/architect designed Shingle-style home in rural woods. Skate on the pond, cross-country ski on the trail by the river, snowshoe the trails from the backyard. Family friendly. $125 two nights, $150 one night, includes full breakfast.

Belfast Bay Inn & Suites, Belfast: Smack downtown, so it’s well situated for browsing Belfast’s boutiques and galleries and for strolling around to admire holiday decorations. Suites are elegantly furnished, and most have near-full kitchens that are well equipped. The owners have thought of everything; they even deliver a full, hot breakfast to your suite in the morning. $158-228

Inn on the Harbor, Stonington: Talk about away from it all! The inn is built over the island-dotted harbor, providing a front-row seat on any boating activity. Wonderful preserves for winter walking, artisans’s studios to visit. In winter, meals are available. $65-$110, $135 for a two-bedroom apartment with full kitchen; includes light breakfast.

West Quoddy Station, Lubec: It might not be the end of the world, but you can see it from here. A once-abandoned Coast Guard Lifesaving Station on West Quoddy Head that’s been renovated into efficiencies and a rental house. Walk the trails, stock up on Monica’s chocolates and Quoddy Mist sea salt. Studios and one-bedroom units: $80-95; four-bedroom house with full kitchen, $200.

Camden Harbour Inn, Camden: A hip, contemporary, luxurious oasis in Camden. Victorian on the outside, chic inside, without a hint of Victorian frou frou. Short stroll to downtown shops and restaurants. $175–$375, including a full champagne breakfast and all-day snacks.

Modest Mouse! The joys of the random playlist. Looking kind of anxious in your cross-armed stance, like a bad tempered prom queen at a homecoming dance.

My sister’s gone skating tonight at Somerset House. I called her earlier, but then figured out when she didn’t answer that tonight must have been the night. It sounds like fun, even though I can’t ice skate for shit and neither can she. Still, it’s one of those nice things to do in the winter, isn’t it? Skating under a night sky with a lovely building as a backdrop. Like a scene from a Christmas card. I hope she hasn’t hurt herself. O_o

I spent a ridiculous amount of time today playing Astro ‘Poop’. All of that time means I’ve become fairly good at it, but I don’t think that’s something to be proud of considering how long I spent on it today when I could have been doing things much more productive. Like finishing off that Placebo review, which I’ve now decided to can because I don’t think I can finish it this week and the site is cluttered with decade reviews and things like that. I could push myself and do it if I tried, but it seems a bit out of place with all the decade reviews, and I don’t really have the spirit for it at the moment. Thank goodness this isn’t an actual job. But then again, if it was an actual job, or if it was actual homework, maybe it would have been done by now. Being unemployed has made me lazy, I’m looking forward to getting back into some kind of routine even if it does mean I’ll spend a lot of time complaining about it.

Yesterday I broke my necklace. My mum gave me this necklace a few years ago and I’ve hardly taken it off since. It’s been a while and the chain was wearing thin so it’s not surprising that it broke, it’s already had to be repaired a few months ago. My mum has said she’ll get me a new chain for Christmas but in the meantime, I have nothing around my neck and it’s the strangest thing.

Talking of strange things, I went to the Stables market in Camden today, but I went down the side near Proud, not somewhere I usually go. All sorts of work took place around there, it was weird going past the place and seeing the rubble, then the new buildings going up. It seems to be all done now, and it’s very different but even with a giant glass building in the middle of it, they’ve still kept the character of the place. Still lots of brick arches, there’s a giant staircase going down into a lower level now and it looks much cleaner and tidier. I don’t actually mind the refurbishment of Camden Market, in an aesthetic sense. It’s nice to see that they’ve kept it pretty much the same in terms of design, apart from that glass building. There was uproar in the local area when Gilgamesh went up, flattening the old rackety stalls that used to be there, but I remember sitting in that area with all those stalls selling the same baggy trousers, thinking that it was a load of the same-old crap, with everything squished into a small area. It’s nice to see that they’re really made the most of the space now, and there’s a lot more variety around there, plenty of things to see, and to buy of course. Camden is one of my favourite places in the world, it’s home after all, and even though it’s not perfect, it has a pretty unique and interesting style and feel to it.

You know when you have lots of things to do, but can’t be bothered to do any of it and are bored as a result? Yep, that’s me right now. It’s a really unproductive and annoying mood to be in. Maybe I should just get an earlier night, been sleeping too late recently.

SV

Went Jazz Cafe yesterday to see Slum Village

Der like my favourite hip hop collective..along with Dwele they arewhat i listen to when i need calm..when im at home alone, laid out on me bean bag with a baileys in me right hand.

BUT…they strolled in like 2 1/2hrs late..WHAT?!! (thank God i was late)

Thy performed some seeeeerious bangers though and performed them well (even though they are two members down R.I.P)..trusay the chubby one forgot the words of his OWN DAMN SONG a couple times

Here’s my favourite SV joint..Thelonious

In order to celebrate for my having completed ALL MY CHRISTMAS SHOPPING YOU KNOW I decided to treat myself to an evening of all things doomy and kvlt in darkest Camden, heading to the Koko where Om and Sunn O))) were playing.

For those of you who have never experienced Sunn O))) live, here is a clip. Imagine this so loud your whole body was shaking and your ears are still ringing now. As they started I thought to myself, this doesn’t seem too loud. Turned out that was just the background noise as they turned the amplifiers on.

Jesus Christ, I thought on leaving, head swimming with noise, before correcting myself and instead offering worship to Our Lord Below.

On the tube back I foolishly picked up an Evening Standard. I know, I know, scaremongering over stabbings and fawning over posh people that is all they offer the world. It may be free but that doesn’t improve things. About the only positive thing about the Standard is that it killed off the London Paper and London Lite and for that I am truly thankful.

It may have been the evening of DOOOO)))M and the cans of lager sloshing around my stomach, but my attention was drawn to the following article. I advise keeping any breakable objects out of reach before reading it.

Meet the gayjacents

The title itself is close to making me vomit, as I realise the presence of some godawful marketing dreck, probably from the same wankers who bought you Staycation.

But don’t vomit just yet, save your bile. You’re going to need it.

My name is Liz and I’m a “gayjacent”. Nearly all my best friends are gay; ditto my younger sister. Thanks to them I get to great parties, meet fascinating people and go on minibreaks to European cities.

If I need an alpha gardener, cleaner, cat-sitter, they’re my first port of call. Their judgment is impeccable – and they have the best address book.

Technically I’m heterosexual – but, hell, I might as well be gay myself. I’d certainly have a better love life.

Fucking hell. Where to start? Try two paragraphs down.

I’ve always loathed the lazy term “fag hag”, which is disrespectful to everyone. “Straight ally” is too clinical. But “gayjacent” – a compressed form of the politically correct term “gay-adjacent” – is so much more fun. These days it’s all about blended friendships.

We’re the post-label generation. Regardless of ideology, we’re cool about same sex marriage, adoption and employment rights. Talent – and charm – trumps everything else.

Post-label? Yeah right, so post-label you’ll use a shitty fucking term invented by a tossbag. And what in the name of fuck is wrong with fag-hag GIVEN THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE.  Please don’t make me say it, but some of my friends are gay and I am no fucking “gayjacent”. Just typing it makes the urge to kill rise.

If I was actually gay and crap at fashion rather than just the latter I think I might just have exploded with rage. Seriously, what a shower of patronising cunts the Evening Standard are.