RELEVANT QUESTIONS–DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW!!!

Matt in Montclair, Calif.: Is Southland really that good? Should I give it a shot on TNT?
We say yes, and so does Ben McKenzie: “People just need to watch it, and after 15 minutes, you’ll decide whether you like it or not. If you’re into a sort of grittier, darker cop show without the sheen that a lot of networks put on their shows, you’ll like it. It’s very character driven, it’s hard-hitting, there’s a lot of action, but there’s also some romance, so it’s a real show you can follow week to week.” And maybe if you start watching, TNT will take note and order up some more episodes (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

Monica in New Orleans: Anything good coming up on Gossip Girl?
Chuck is going to visit Bart’s grave on the anniversary of his death, and when he gets there, he won’t be the only one paying his respects. Any guesses on who’ll pop up? I’m hearing that not one but two family members could be making surprising returns.

Brianna: How about something on One Tree Hill? Anything juicy?
How’s this: A source tells me Haley and Quinn’s sister Taylor is going to come back to Tree Hill.

Cian33: 90210 is so much better this year! I hope you are watching. What can you dish?
Agreed! It is way better than season one, in case any of you are missing it. I’m told there’s a sex scandal in the works: Naomi is going to accuse a teacher of sexual harassment.

Irene in Newport News, Va.: I’m loving White Collar! Any scoop?
Ever since the White Collar pilot, we’ve found that the everyday eps of this USA series have been a smidgen flimsier than we’d like, but the midseason finale on Dec. 4 is the sharp and snappy standard we’d like to see from the show. What happens? Well, Neal (Matthew Bomer) is finally confronted with a criminal nemesis worthy of his talents, Elizabeth Burke’s (Tiffani Thiessen) presence on the show starts to make sense, and there is a huge (huge!) reveal about Agent Burke (Tim McKay) that involves something pretty important from Neal’s past.

Credit: E! Online

***

Note: Bejamin McKenzie played Ryan on The O.C. and Tiffani Thiessen played Valerie on Beverly Hills 90210.

Hej kära bloggläsare!

If your name is Klemens, then today is your day! Grattis!

Weather is very foggy. Have been in a fog advisory most of the day. Rain and colder temps are on the way.

No plans for today. Meeting a friend for coffee. We solved all the world’s and town’s problems. Now if people would only listen!! No other plans today.

‘An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry, any good thing to make us all merry’.

«Ett gott skratt förlälnger livet!»

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Julie-Ann den 23/11/09                      Hemlängtan för Sverige!

Komende donderdag zal Naomi worden ingeënt tegen de Nieuwe Influenza A (H1N1), ook wel bekend als Mexicaanse griep. Ik heb ervoor gekozen mijn twijfels het zwijgen op te leggen, en Marcel is pas eergister over de kwestie na gaan denken, om tot de conclusie te komen dat het waarschijnlijk niet veel uitmaakt dus vooruit met de geit. (Een stoicijns wereldbeeld heeft zijn voordelen.)

Eigenlijk was ik van plan  om een redelijke hoeveelheid informatie in te winnen uit het midden van het spectrum (niet dat ik vies ben van een lekker wereldomspannend complot van de Society with the Aim to Wreck Civilisation with an X-Ray, maar ik heb ook maar zeven dagen in m’n week), om op basis daarvan een overwogen beslissing te nemen. In plaats daarvan ben ik de laatste maanden tegen allerlei informatie aangelopen in verschillende bladen en kranten en gesprekken. Dus ben ik gewaar van een interview met Ab Osterhaus waarin hij vertelt dat hij echt geen geld verdient aan de vaccins, een interview met Roel Coutinho in god weet welke krant waarin hij stelt dat kritiek op de vaccins onzin is en kritiek op het vaccineren ook, een artikel in Vrij Nederland over een review waarin de gepubliceerde onderzoeken naar griepvaccins op een rijtje worden gezet met als conclusie: de onderzoeken deugen niet, ergo het vaccin zou kunnen deugen maar dat blijkt niet uit deze onderzoeken; het bericht dat als 40 procent van Nederland zijn/haar Internet tegelijk aanzet onze rapen gaar zijn; www.grieppandemie.nl, de site van de overheid die in alle onschuld voors en tegens opsomt en vertelt dat kinderen onder de vier jaar relatief vaak worden opgenomen met Mexicaanse, dus doe het nou maar gewoon; en myriaden opiniestukken waarin myriaden opinieerders stellen dat de Mexicaanse griep eigenlijk best een simpel griepje is, waar doen we moeilijk over?

Verder heeft collega C., uit een risicogroep, zich laten inenten op bevel van de specialist, maar eigenlijk ziet ze het nut van al dat gedoe voor eén dag minder griep totaal niet in; vriendin E. werkt in een ziekenhuis,  maar ze zich niet laat inenten, net zomin als de helft van de ondervraagde verpleegkundigen in een enquete die deze zomer in de publiciteit geweest is; nicht V. en haar zoontje zijn allebei geveld geweest door de Mexicaanse, maar lopen alweer als kieviten rond. Er zit nog veel meer in mijn hoofd, allemaal zonder voetnoten en links en verwijzingen. De conclusie is: ik heb allemaal informatie en opinie en getuigenissen; en ik weet nog steeds niks.

Nu ben ik behept met een ongefocust maar oprecht wantrouwen tegen al te stellige uitspraken in het algemeen en die van de overheid in het bijzonder. Dus als de directeur van het RIVM zegt DOEN! dan bekijk ik hem met net zo’n beady eye als ik Natasja Froger bekeek in de zomer van 2009. Maar dat is vorm, en geen inhoud. Ik voel me gepatroniseerd en daar kan ik niet tegen, wat begrijpelijk is maar strikt genomen niet erg belangrijk. De belangrijke vraag is: hoe kan ik weten dat de directeur van het RIVM niet gewoon gelijk heeft?

There’s the rub. Dat kan ik niet. Ik weet wat Pasteur onder een vaccin verstond, maar ik weet niet echt wat een vaccin nu is en hoe dat wordt gemaakt. Ik ben op het gebied van wetenschappen waar je “bio” voor kunt zetten een volstrekte leek, dus ook al zou ik de onderzoeken die zo gekapitteld worden door bovengenoemd review in handen hebben, dan nog zou ik ze niet kunnen lezen op een manier waar ik wat aan heb.  Ik kan hoogstens de meningen van andere mensen (en van de overheid) op een rijtje zetten en ze tegen elkaar wegstrepen, en ik kan proberen te bepalen of ik datgeen wat overschiet redelijk vind klinken; maar wat redelijk klinkt, is niet altijd waar.

Uiteindelijk is mijn keuze om Naomi in te laten enten gebaseerd op de volgende redenering: Als ik Naomi wel in laat enten en er gebeurt iets, dan heb ik naar mijn beste weten mijn best gedaan; maar als ze niet ingeënt is en ze gaat dood, dan heb ik niet genoeg mijn best gedaan om het te voorkomen.  Het tweede zou, vanuit mijn standpunt hic et nunc, erger zijn dan het eerste. (Bovendien zal  ik in het eerste geval óók boos worden op iemand anders, en dat zal waarschijnlijk wel afleiden en opluchten.) Dus wordt Naomi komende donderdag ingeënt.

Rationeler kan ik het niet maken, dus wat mijn keuze betreft laat ik het hierbij. Wat ik verontrustender vind, is het besef dat we, dat wil zeggen ik, niet alleen bijna niks weet op dit gebied; maar dat ik, als ik een normaal leven wil leiden, ook bijna niks kan weten. Ik kan me in de Nieuwe Influenza A (H1N1) verdiepen, maar ik moet me ook verdiepen in de wereld van de post-crisis financiën, in de gevolgen van de leeftijdsverhoging van de AOW voor de Rallotjes, in het uitvogelen wat een goede school is voor Naomi (als ze de Mexicaanse griep overleeft), in het vinden van de verborgen vetten in honderdduizend ogenschijnlijk onschuldige gerechten, en in de finesses van de Hatha yoga. De overheid lijkt op de site grieppandemie.nl de beslissing voor mij te willen nemen, en lijkt niet van mij te verwachten dat ik een doordachte keuze maak. Maar ik  had dat wel van mij verwacht, en ik ben geschrokken van hoe moeilijk dat is.

Pictures taken from Pullip.net. I am not exactly sure who is responsible from the photography while I am grateful for the pictures, the photographer could probably benefit from a better camera ^^;.

The November/December/January releases- Nothing earth-shattering here. I am personally very excited Naomi and Edge are currently in the mail at the moment and I simply must have Richt when funds become available.

The January/ February/ Possible March releases- I am really looking forward to Feb’s, the more pictures I see the more I want all three. This picture seems to be confirming Dal Pinocchio, Byul Dumbo and another Audrey pullip for March. I am not sure if this Audrey is based on her portrayal of the title character from Sabrina or not as I am not familiar with the film, but there was a rumor floating around that a pullip based on her portrayal of that character was going to be the March release so I am kind of assuming it is ^^; . I still hate Byul but I so want the Dumbo Byul’s stock as I love elephants and Dumbo was one of my favorite movies as a kid.

Prototypes- A bunch of byul prototypes in the front some that I haven’t seen before, some that I have. I’ve noticed a lot of the byul prototype stock is nicer than some of the dals recently ^^; I think they may be trying to entice people over to the byul side. The Egyptian dal seems to be joined by an Egyptian pullip prototype, it’s kind of an interesting concept. I am not exactly sure what the other pullip prototype is at this point, is it supposed to be a Gypsy or something?

Doll Carnival Limiteds- Jouet, Isolde and newcomer Chantilly who is being released at this year’s doll carnival.

Luego de su primera temporada donde la serie 90210 vio pasar todos los problemas imaginables en torno a los adolescentes, más mucho dinero, la secuela de la popular serie de los años noventa creada por Aaron Spelling estrena su 2da temporada en la señal del cable  Sony en medio de controversias.

Cambia de horario, serán ahora los martes cuando los dramas en West Beverly Hills High School lleguen a la pantalla chica. Para los protagonistas de la serie: Annie, Naomi, Silver, Adriana, Ethan, Dixon y Navid las cosas no serán fáciles. A su regreso a clases después de un largo verano se verán sorprendidos por la llegada de nuevos compañeros.

Para tormento de los galanes de la escuela Teddy (Trevor Donovan) llegará a poner las hormonas de las chicas a tope. El nuevo jugador de tenis del colegio será el nuevo objetivo de algunas de las estudiantes, mientras que Gia, (Rumer Willis) una nueva estudiante de tendencia homosexual será una pieza clave en el periódico del colegio.

Hasta en las mejores familias
Resulta difícil pensar que son muchos los jóvenes que adquieren la independencia de los padres para vivir una vida sin reglas, 90210 va más allá de la premisa y se aleja, incluso de la historia que en los noventas también se convirtiera en escándalo. La segunda temporada de la nueva versión trajo a la pantalla chica la exposición de casos que podrían encontrarse en cualquier lugar: adicciones, madres adolescentes, libertinaje y abandono, pero la serie sabe llevarlo de la mano con mucho glamour, la máscara favorita de las chicas de Beverly Hills.

Pese a todo, esta nueva versión no ha contado con el éxito de la primera, en la que Kelly, Brenda, Brandon, Steve, Andrea, Donna y muchos más vieron correr su vida en la preparatoria e incluso dar el salto a la universidad, además de que permanecieron en el gusto del público durante una década.

Han sido dos años los que 90210 está por cumplir y, a pesar de la herencia de la producción anterior, sus protagonistas tienen mucho trabajo por delante para demostrar que su talento puede ir más allá de estos personajes e incluso brincar a la pantalla grande.

90210 /  martes / 21:00 horas / Por: Canal Sony

Asadar continuam minunata nuastra serie de Almanahe cu ce mai e la moda pe hi5 . Im primul rand e la moda sa pui “gen” dupa fiecare kkt ( gen kkt (ex) ) . Asa ca va sugerez sa va puneti o poza cu un cacat proaspat facut iar ca descriere sa aveti : “gen iesit din mine” .
Apoi, e la moda sa umbli prin cluburi de la 12-13 ani . Tie nu t-ia venit ciclu dar tu ai poza cu tigara in mana pe hi5. Ti se pare cuul si te lauzi la tot messu si dai massuri ca ai poze noi in albumul proaspat facut cu 30 de sec inainte de mass numit “Clubbin” .Si iti place sa crezi ca semeni cu Lady Gaga si iti faci breton de transexual si ii faci poze din toate partile ca bajetii sa iti zica ca esti “bona…da id de mess….fata da web” .
Chiar imi pare rau daca te regasesti in post… (s-ami bag plua cum suna :X)

Adeline, Eleanor, Amelia, Theodora, Beatrix, Sidony, Madeleine, Clementine, Henrietta, Ione, Lila, Delphia, Adele, Adela, Dora, Vera, Evelyn, Greta, Ingrid, Fern, Opal, Finola, Olive, Lyra, Willa, Angeline, Petra, Mina, Pearl, Mehitabel, Ellen, Keisha, Thora, Lucinda, Ramona, Naomi, June, Sarai, Thea, Evanthia, Thomasina, Tilda, Mirabella, Iole.

What do you think of these? which do you like? dislike and why? which could you see on a child born in the next couple of years?

LINKS CAN BE FOUND HERE

Guests list:
K.Will
Kim Tae Woo
Lee Young Hyun (Big Mama)
Naomi

In last week’s inagural Weekly Poll, voters were almost evenly split on the questions “Should Brooke have accepted Rachel’s apology?” and “In light of the threesome, do you hope Dan and Vanessa get together?”  But the third question, “Should Dixon be mad at Debbie?” had clear winner with most people thinking Debbie was just trying to protect him.

Voice your opinions in this week’s polls.

Lilyrae (parents Louise and Lindsay)

Sienna (Chloe and Liam) (parents Naomi & Paul)

Makayla (parents Cassie & Sam)

Louis (Henry) (parents Nichola & David)

Edward (Benji & Samuel) (parents Ruth & Nick)

Jade (parents Sita & Henry)

Kelsey (parents Teresa & Lee)

Sapphire (parents Vanessa, Kevin, Shareen & Nathan)

November 18th, 2009

• Be sure to check out The CW’s site for all the new video content this week.
• We don’t have ratings yet for last night’s One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl as Nielsen (the company responsible for them) had technical difficulties today.
• The CW Source has podcasts for last week’s OTH and GG.
• MTV has an article on the Blake Lively (Serena, Gossip Girl) feature in Nylon.
• Gossip Girl and 90210 are included in TVGuide.com’s sweeps roundup for this week.
• The Los Angeles Times has a spoilish interview with Jessica Stroup (Silver, 90210).
• PEOPLE.com has a short blurb on the Silver storyline in tonight’s episode.
• EW.com has a spoilish interview with AnnaLynne McCord (Naomi, 90210).
• AdAge has an article on 90210’s partnership with Ford for the Warriors in Pink campaign.
• Modern Salon has an article on copying 90210 hairstyles, but only includes Stroup and Shenae Grimes (Annie).
• Kellan Lutz (George, 90210) said he turned down the lead role in Twilight.
• In an article on Heather Locklear’s return to Melrose Place, 90210 is mentioned a bit. And this one mentions Laura Leighton (Sophie, Beverly Hills 90210).
• E! Online has an interview with Jennie Garth (Kelly, Beverly Hills 90210).
• In the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, McCord’s Naomi is made their list of Top TV Bitches. The EW.com version also includes: Brenda (Shannen Doherty, Beverly Hills 90210), Julie (Melinda Clarke,  The O.C.), Busy Phillips (Audrey, Dawson’s Creek) for her role in Freaks & Geeks and Jessica Walters (Tabitha, 90210) for her role in Arrested Development.
• There’s been conflicting reports that The CW will air the remaining episodes of The Beautiful Life, which starred Mischa Barton (Marissa, The O.C.).
• PEOPLE.com has an interview with Nikki Reed (Sadie, The O.C.).

RELEVANT QUESTIONS–DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW!!!

Jasper on “90210” is awesome! Is he going to kill Annie when he finds out that she totally murdered his uncle? -P
Ha, no. Actually, he’s going to discover the truth sooner than later, but it seems his passionate, crazy love for Miss Wilson will keep him from ratting her out… that doesn’t mean she won’t get caught though. The writers aren’t going to leave her hit-and-run storyline hanging too much longer.

What are Liam and his friends going to do to get back at Naomi’s sister on “90210”?! If they do get back at her, do you think Liam will get back together with Naomi?! -shreya
Naomi’s sister Jen is going to get what’s coming her way. Finally. As for Liam and Naomi, listen up…

Credit: Zap2it

• The New York Post rated the new 90210 a C…but also made an error. See if you can spot it!
• On Ryan Seacrest’s radio show, Kellan Lutz (George, 90210) said he isn’t dating AnnaLynne McCord (Naomi, 90210) but pictures suggest otherwise.
• Jennie Garth (Kelly, Beverly Hills 90210) was at the New Moon premiere alongside hubby Peter Facinelli, who stars in the film.
• SoapNet has a “Which Dylan Are You” poll in anticipation of the “Chillin’ With Dylan” marathon of Beverly Hills 90210.
• Examiner.com has a spoilish interview with Jana Kramer (Alex, One Tree Hill).
• Famed basketball player Rick Fox (Daunte, One Tree Hill) is on Twitter. For more real (and fake) accounts, check out my directory.
• The week of Dec. 14, The CW is airing episodes of The Vampire Diaries every night, which means no One Tree Hill and no Gossip Girl that Monday.
• PEOPLE.com has an article on Lady Gaga’s appearance on tonight’s Gossip Girl.

The Old Spawn.com Anime Series (I think from 2006) showed us pretty nice figures for that time. I was so enchanted with this Naomi that I paid R$130.00 (about US$ 55.00 that time), and I conquered my first Figure.

For the photos, today you can see the awesome the difference of my first figure to the latest ones. I didn’t regret to buy this one, but I do understand how much ugly became this figure. Let’s go for details and no more speech.

Name: Naomi
Manufacture: McFarlane Toys
Series: ARMITAGE III
Size: No Scale
Type: PVC Sculpture
Release date: 2006
Extras:
- 1 laser pistol;
- 1 handcuffs;
- 1 White Figure Support.

More Photos:

Just a few thoughts: Why is this preview so different from the others? All teaser previews for Skins in the past have been of the whole gang at some sort of get-together with a crazy soundtrack playing along to footage of different characters antics throughout the night. The night has nothing to do with the series or what will happen in the series-it’s usually a sort of fantasy night. This preview looks like they just chopped up some footage from the upcoming series and pasted it together to give us a taste of what’s coming. I like to think of the series previews as what we’ve been missing. Also, I wonder what kind of soundtrack this season will have. If it’s anything like the previous season’s, it will be phenomenal. They’ve set the bar pretty high for themselves…I hope to hear some new Arctic Monkeys and maybe for a party scene, some MSTRKRFT or Major Lazer-something fun. If not, I hope that they open my ears to new realms of obscure British music like they have in the past. I’M REALLY PSYCHED FOR THIS SEASON.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FIRST LEGIT PREVIEW OF SKINS SERIES 4!!!!!!!!!!
Predictions:
Cook goes cuckoo
Pandora & JJ
Effy…and Freddie? Finally?
Thomas has a new girlfriend…it looks like
Naomily attempt to make everything work out BUT…other factors *cough*KATIE*cough* get in the way
aaaand I think that covers all of it?
Basically I’m still praying that Tony will make a guest appearance, but it seems as though Effy has finally found some balance in her life so maybe he won’t be needed. A girl can only wish.

Hej kära bloggläsare!

If your name is Krister or Kristian, then today is your day!

Weather is changing. Mostly cloudy and cool—ish today. This afternoon the clouds were so heavy and it looked and felt dampish out. Nothing on the radar yet but I see rain/snow in Nebraska.

This morning was our Swedish group. We had a speaker from Sweden named Peter Salvolainen. He was so interesting. He is started working in forensics and now works on studying dogs DNA. He has found out that ALL dogs originated in southern China and ALL dogs are descended from wolves. Amazing.

After Peter’s talk we got to ask him questions. And even stayed almost 30 min. late. We asked him about health care in Sweden and here. He thinks that all the fuss that everyone here is having over health care is silly. And most Europeans/Scandinavians cannot understand what the problem is. Oh, my! The scrunchie faces on the ultra conservatives in our group. They believe that only certain people are good enough to have health care. Someone asked about the high taxes in Sweden to pay for all this free health care. Well, in Sweden 30% is taken out of his paycheck but here in the good ole USA he had 35% taken out. Hmm. Caused more scrunchie faces. Then he was asked what Swedes think of Obama. He stated that most Swedes like him, but they would like anyone other than Bush. And he added that all of Europe would prefer anyone other than Bush. There are now some faces that cannot be unscrunched. Nothing he said surprised me, but many were shocked. He did say that in Sweden Obama would actually be considered a conservative and he himself is very liberal. After our group ended, several who usually stay to chat with our guests, left right away. So much for tolerance and open mindedness and freedom of speech. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about not only dogs but about present Sweden and Swedes.

I had lunch with Naomi. We ate at Season’s and Chris was our chef. He came and sat with us when he was caught up. He does my hamburger just perfect. What a nice grandson I have. I am blessed.

Then I was off to Salina to shop for baby shower gifts. Have a shower for my niece tomorrow nite so I cannot go see the Christmas lights being turned on Lindsborg. I always go and watch. And in Salina, I am officially now tired of road construction. Sigh….

My mood is still bordering on tears but it sure helped to spend time with Naomi and Beth and Terry from FaceBook made me laugh.

Willie is still in pain and still won’t call our doctor. The chiropractor did some extra work on his knee today so hopefully that might help. Why are men so stubborn?

‘An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry, any good thing to make us all merry’.

«Ett gott skratt förlälnger livet!»

Create your own visitor map!

Julie-Ann den 13/11/09                      Hemlängtan för Sverige!

• The Gossip Girl tour in New York is looking for tour guides. If you’re interested, let me know and I can give you all their information.
• Speaking of the tours, you can get 10% off your ticket when you use the promo code TEENDRAMA.
• Creators.com has an interview with Jessica Stroup (Silver, 90210) about the Jackie (Ann Gillespie, Beverly Hills 90210) breast cancer storyline.
• AnnaLynne McCord (Naomi, 90210) helped launch the Kisses for the Troops campaign.
• Jason Priestley (Brandon, Beverly Hills 90210) is producing a film called Death of a Freerider.
• The governor of North Carolina signed a bill on the set of One Tree Hill. The OTH Twitter account posted some photos.
• Brief mentions of Dawson’s Creek in these two interviews with creator Kevin Williamson.
• Dawson’s Creek: The Complete Series is one of iF Magazine’s top DVD picks for the week.
• Recommend watching Palisades Pool Party, a new teen drama webseries. Impressive all around: writing, acting and production quality.

Backstage at the CMA Awards The Judds hinted at big plans to come in 2010 but wouldn’t elaborate for the time being – although we hear they have a full-blown reunion tour they will be announcing in the very near future.  When asked how they felt the industry and country music had changed for the better, Naomi quipped, “Since you said for the better, I’m going to let Wynonna take it.”  It was clear Naomi was biting her tongue.  When pressed, she seemed to be bothered by the use of technology on singer’s voices and the loss of artists who can just stand up and sing without hiding behind a lot of technical tricks and tweaks.  One person Naomi did rave about is Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland.  Wynonna says she is a big fan of Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker.  She appreciates that Darius is so grateful and humble.

September 30th, 2009

They say you should never meet your heroes.

Sound advice.

Unless they happen to be firemen.

To be honest, I never actually thought it was a given. And anyway I know from experience it’s not; because <brag alert> Joe Strummer was the perfect gent.

Anyway, last weekend I found myself at a gig I’d been looking forward to all year – Gang Of Four at The Forum in KentishTown. The reason it was so anticipated was that I had been promised to be put on the door months ago, as my girlfriend is mates with the manager / promoter there (thanks Dan, I owe you several beers at this stage).

Dan had already sorted me and Naomi with a couple of really cool festival tickets over the summer, but I’d not yet been to The Forum this year (I did see Living Color there about eight years ago).

I had been eyeballing the Gang Of Four show since about March; and the fact it was the 30^th anniversary of their debut Entertainment! (stone cold classic – GET IT NOW), I was excited to say the least.

Just to put in context how much this band (who released their first album the same year I was born, bear in mind) means to me, here’s a little rock and roll history.

Obviously I wasn’t around for the original release; but for a band of their time, they’re probably the single biggest influence on the group who’s album became the reason I picked up a bass in the first place.

That reason was Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

That album blew my head open. It introduced me not just to the force of nature that is the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but also to Rick Rubin’s career-high producing Midas touch (which still continues to this day) and the sublime talents of engineer / mixer Brendan O’Brien – another superlative producer in his own right.

The songs, the incredible performances and personalities coupled with the Zeppelin-esque recording process, all resulted in my favourite album of all time and a determination that I wanted to play music until I die.

“How does this relate to Gang Of Four?” I hear you yawn.

Well, Flea in particular, has said the original sound of the Chili Peppers was primarily influenced by Leeds’ punk-funk rogues. So much so that they got Gang Of Four axe-man, Andy Gill, to produce their first album.

Without wanting to put too fine a point on it – he made a bollocks of that album.

To be fair, it was never going to be Blood Sugar Sex Magik; but it could have easily been an underground classic.

There were a few factors involved also – last minute line up changes, the band’s inexperience, personality clashes etc.

Gill’s assertion that he “didn’t know what (he) was doing” on the Gang Of Four’s earlier albums probably didn’t lift the bands confidence either. One story, that the band left a pizza box (with a shit in it) on the mixing desk, speaks volumes.

“Typical.” was Gill’s only response to the incident, apparently.

So, based on this evidence, I have only myself to blame that I did not heed to the potential perils of hero contact.

The fact that the hero I approached on this occasion was also Andy Gill, gives me the distinct impression that I have all the foresight of a Darwin Award winner.

The after show exchange went something like this….

“Hey Andy. Sorry to bother you. Amazing gig. Thanks so much.”

“Are you Jurgen?”

“Erm, no…”

“What’s your name?”

“Niall.”

“Sorry, what?  Jurgen..?”

“Uh, no, it’s Niall.”

What followed was Gill (the man whom I called a legend, from the crowd, not half an hour previous) silently turning his back and offering me the limpest, lamest, reverse reach-around handshake in the history of uncomfortablism.

Maybe if I had introduced myself by my nickname (“Disko..? Really..?”), or indeed pretended to be this Jurgen individual, my interaction may have lasted more than five seconds.

Or maybe Andy Gill is just an uppity rude fuckwit.

Naomi and my now deflated self  left soon after – but not before I launched into an expletive ridden tirade as to why the original rhythm section were absent from the current line-up (my reasoning mostly centered around Andy Gill’s fuckwit credentials, as I’m sure you can imagine).

God bless Naomi and her powers of rant absorption.

And thank god I hadn’t directed it at Gill himself.

To be honest, as I (soberly) write this, it’s not really as soul crushing as I had worked it up to be on the night. I think what stung was the sudden gear shift from elated post-gig booze brain to an abrupt, uninterested dismissing.

In fact, I now feel a little guilty about the Mark Chapman death-stare (and wink for some reason, according to Naomi) I threw him as I left the place.

Andy, if you’re reading this – don’t worry; I still love ya, soda pop.

But you’re no Joe Strummer, buddy.

Disko

X

Epilogue :

The next morning I found myself (still pissed) in the Italian deli next door to Naomi’s place.

She had very considerately woken me at half nine to go get a couple of paninis.

As I swayed bleary-eyed at the counter, I turned around and saw Channel Four News’ Jon Snow enter for a Sunday morning coffee with his paper (presumably just to make sure  other journalists are still not as badass as himself).

Thoughts of the universe balancing out the bad karma visited upon me the night before swam round my brain; vying for position amongst slightly less  celestial concerns about whether to get a Milka Bar on the way home.

“If there’s anyone in the world who’d love a slurred declaration of admiration at a quarter to ten on a Sunday morning -  it’s TV’s Jon Snow!”, I reasoned to myself.

Thankfully, at this point my inner Lilac Milka Cow looked up wearily from its grazing and mooed :

“Go back to bed, gobshite.”
Soundtrack : Grand Pappy Du Plenty – Red Hot Chili Peppers