James Holden @ Wigflex, Stealth – Nottingham

Mirror

Mirror

Mirror

000:00 ID
004:00 ID
009:30 Kode9 - 2 Far Gone
014:50 Plastikman – Glob
019:25 Black Meteoric Star – Death Tunnel
023:40 Francois K – Road Of Life (Quiet Village Sound Factory Dub)
026:15 Legowelt – DX Days
030:45 Fuck Buttons – Sweet Love For Planet Earth (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
037:26 Margot – Goblin Think
045:00 Micromattic – Under Over The Clouds (Luke Abbott rmx)
051:00 Alden Tyrell – Disco Lunar Module
053:50 ID
057:30 ID
061:10 Nathan Fake – The Turtle
066:00 Clark – Growls Garden
070:20 ID
075:20 Stereo Total – Chelsea Girls
078:20 ID
084:30 ID
089:45 ID
091:00 probably james ( he made another version of the same track)
096:50 Moderat – A New Error
101:15 Matthys – Robot Tribe
105:30 Wesley Matsell – Bernwerk
111:35 Santiago Salazar – Arcade
115:30 ID ALEX GOES TO HELL  who knows ?
123:00 V.u.l.v.a. – White Bmw (Legowelt Rmx)
127:00 Subway – Simplex (Gatto Fritto Mix)
131:50 Andre Kraml – Safari (James Holden Rmx)
137:30 Luke Abbott – Whitebox Stereo
142:50 The MFA – The Difference It Makes
148:00 Premier Rang – La Ronde
152:10 ID
155:30 Margot – Be a Star
160:20 ID
165:15 Martial Canterel – Windscreen
169:23 Ricardo Tobar – Teenager

The new brochure listing WEA courses in and around Nottingham from January 2010 is now available. Copies are being sent out now to all learners who were enrolled on a course during the autumn term. If you were not on a course last term you can pick up a copy at any of our centres from Monday 7 December (see our ‘Partners’ page).

Hey everyone.

Filming has been put on hold for a bit. This is due to a few issues with the script, but fear not. We are in the process of sorting it out and filming should resume very soon. Our deadline of Christmas is probably not going to fly anymore, but we’ll battle through and should have a finished product soon enough. Stay tuned for more info…

This is just a quick reminder that although term officially ends this week, Friday 4 December, there are still a few courses with some hours to make up. If any of your courses have been affected by the flood situation at Greenway we will be giving you a call later this week to let you know if there are sessions running next week.

 Courses start again on Monday 11 January 2010, so remember to pre-book a place on your favourite course to avoid disappointment. Click here to find out more about our pre-enrolment sessions in early January:

This video is a 5 minute introduction to the DAIN project. It was filmed during the launch events arround the East Midlands and introduces the new Digital Activist Co-ordinators. Enjoy!

Many thanks to Patricia Hale for drawing my attention to this rather nice shot of Hockney resting alongside one of his paintings at Nottingham Contemporary. Just click on the thumbnail, second from the right.

Nearly a third of people approaching retirement still plan to use their property to boost their income despite recent house price falls.

Around 27% of those aged over 50 said they planned to use money tied up in their home to provide themselves with a retirement income, such as through downsizing or releasing equity, according to life insurer LV=.

The average homeowner in this age group believes around £27,000 has been wiped off the value of their property during the downturn.

But despite this only 2% of people said house price falls had put them off using their home to fund their retirement.

The research also found that previous house price booms have left many people reliant on the wealth tied up in their property, with 12% admitting they had saved less into a pension because of the rising value of their home.

A further 13% claimed they could not afford to buy their own property and invest in a traditional pension because house prices were so high.

A third of homeowners think it will take between three to five years for house prices to return to their former values.

Around 17% of people hope to recoup some of their lost equity by carrying out home improvements, while 21% will save extra and 29% will wait for house prices to recover.

Vanessa Owen, head of equity release at LV=, said: “In the decade leading up to the credit crunch, more and more homeowners saw their property as a potential cash cow to aid retirement.

“But in a matter of months millions of pre-retirees have seen both their property and pension fund values battered. Despite this, their confidence in the long-term value of bricks and mortar remains.”

For bespoke independent financial advice on pensions, and equity release contact Credencis.

We are situated close to Derby, Leicester, and Nottingham.

Credencis

“Live for today, Invest for tomorrow”

Just got back from my morning constitutional on the Heath, with the most recent Front Row podcast playing under my wooly hat, enjoying, as ever, listening to Alan Bennett talking; interviewed by Mark Lawson, he sounded cogent, amusing and honest. Born in Leeds in 1934 and happier now to speak about his life than was the case in the past, he was in direct contrast to that other great Yorkshireman, David Hockney, interviewed for BBC Radio Nottingham when he visited the exhibition of his earlier work at the new Nottingham Contemporary – pulling teeth doesn’t come into it. Three years younger than Bennett [and one younger than myself], despite looking natty in matching cloth cap and scarf, he was clearly deeply uncomfortable talking about anything. Not that that should matter: unlike Bennett, who, after all, works primarily with words, Hockney’s work – and his life – are there on the walls and an amazing 21,000 people have been Nottingham Contemporary to see them in the first two weeks since the building opened.

Starting university can be a very scary and daunting experience. Most people travel a few 100 miles away from home to get the full university experience. It’s a new challenge in life and everyone who starts is in exactly the same boat. Its 3 years of your life free to do whatever you want, when you want and how you want not knowing what to expect and the thrills and perks that come with it.

You really do meet your best friends at university (well i did) and going was my best decision yet, so much so I’m itching to go back and do my masters! The best thing to do is go in with an open mind, a positive attitude and an eagenerness to make friends, try new things and just have fun. The first year is simply a settling in period. It’s all about going out, getting drunk and making memories. Of course study plays a major part – as if you fail you leave, so word to the wise… buckle down regardless! It’ll be worth it in the end. So call your dad, uncle or removal company in Nottingham or wherever you’re coming from and pack up everything you feel necessary (including costumes) and set off for 3 years of fun, frolics and plenty of  freedom.

I don’t complain often and when I do it’s not done frivolously.

Usually I’m of the slightly reserved (and very English) ” Let’s not cause a fuss” school of thought, but yesterday was different and irritating on so many levels that to not complain would be to let a grave injustice go without punishment.

Ok, maybe that’s overstating it a little but when eating in a restaurant if the person waiting on your table provides good professional service without long delays then they’ll usually earn themselves a tip, they deserve it.

If they don’t then no tip.

Tipping isn’t a given, despite what they say at the start of Reservoir Dogs.

“Mr. Pink: I don’t tip because society says I have to. All right, if someone deserves a tip, if they really put forth an effort, I’ll give them something a little something extra. But this tipping automatically, it’s for the birds. As far as I’m concerned, they’re just doing their job.
Mr. Blue: Hey, our girl was nice.
Mr. Pink: She was okay. She wasn’t anything special.
Mr. Blue: What’s special? Take you in the back and suck your dick?
Nice Guy Eddie: I’d go over twelve percent for that.”

Sorry, but I’m with Mr. Pink on this one.

If a person or place provides a bad customer experience, to the point where it seriously affects your enjoyment or usage of the thing/service etc… then not only should you not tip but you absolutely should complain.

It’s normally quite difficult to complain to the right person though. Don’t go off at the actual person you have the complaint about (if it is actually a person); they almost certainly won’t have the training or the ability to deal with it and you may end up in an argument.

Managers should be sought out. The look on someone’s face when you ask to speak to their manager lets you know they’re now taking it seriously and cannot fob you off with excuses.

We now seem to live in a ’CBC’ based society  (‘complain, blame & claim’). I’ve not heard that phrase before, maybe I just invented some pop culture right there.

This societal trend was never more obvious than on Saturday when we’d been to Tesco for a few bits (‘a few bits’ being the second of only two kinds of shopping).

You’ll only ever be getting ‘a few bits’ or doing the ‘big shop’ in a supermarket.

Having said that, they’re not mutually exclusive; you may only be getting ‘a few bits’ but at any time that can develop into the ‘big shop’ when you go a bit 2-4-1 crazy and conversely, if you forget your list, the ‘big shop’ can downgrade into the getting of ‘a few bits’ as you’ll have no memory of what it is you wrote on the (forgotten) list.

Maybe we’ll look back at these shopping practices as archaic & laughable in the future when our fridge-freezers are all self-aware & linked up to Skynet so the food we need is known to our prefered retailer who then dispatches the appropriate item down some kind of Futurama-esque clear vacuum tube straight to the kitchen.

This will inevitably lead to some kind of white goods initiated apocalypse where kitchens of the world unite and decide to eliminate the human race by launching an all-out surface to air frozen parsnip attack.

And don’t think you’ll be safe with non-sharp frozens; peas and sweetcorn have very similar properties to shotgun shells when launched at a high enough velocity from the integrated ice maker & dispenser on the front of your unnecessarily ostentatious SMEG.

Hopefully though, perhaps this Armageddon will only affect the middle classes who think spending so much on a fucking FRIDGE is justifiable. The bastards.

Being stapled to the wall by high-speed weaponised vegetables is too good for ‘em!

Anyway, that was quite the tangent.

So yes, we were in Tesco and it became obvious we live in the ‘CBC Society’ (©) when, after being served at the checkout by a great guy named Darius (great name too) we wanted to leave some POSITIVE feedback. When informing the customer service desk of this they were surprised and struggled to find the appropriate from.

Only after a few seconds searching did it become clear there was no form for positive feedback. They do, however, have an automated and highly advanced system of complaining. We had to use this method and replace the word “complaint” on the printout (which come in the same form and on the same paper as a receipt) with the words “Positive Feedback”.

Don’t you think it says a lot about Tesco and the society it operates in when all the development (probably by white jacketed boffins in laboratories) is put into letting customers complain yet there’s nothing in place to log positive customer experience?!

Anyway, back to the point of what this piece is about: last night’s Toby Carvery sunday dinner.

What you see below is a copy of the complaint I’ve sent to the anonymous corporate entity who own the Toby Carvery chain of restaurants (Mitchells & Butlers).

It details (perhaps too much detail) exactly what made the visit so excruciating and how unhappy we were with the service.

Obviously their response (if I even get one) will be posted here when (or if) it arrives.

Begin complaint!

“Unfortunately, after several visits to the Toby Carvery, last nights visit was drastically below the usually good standard I’ve come to expect.

We arrived at 9pm for dinner, were seated immediately and served drinks. The seating area was very quiet as the time was getting late. We were one of only 3 other groups of diners visible.

The first half of the meal was absolutely fine and as pleasant as ever it had been in previous visits. The food wasn’t as fresh as usual, having been under the lights and kept warm for a little too long (and so drying out some of the veg) but, aside from this, no problems at all.

Unfortunately, about half way through our meal, things (or more specifically, ‘the staff’), started to go wrong.

First of all the behaviour of the staff was more akin to that of a group of boisterous hormonal teenagers at a youth club. Initially (i.e. the first ten seconds) this was quite funny, but when the shouting & larking around carried on and became standard background noise it was highly irritating and distracting.

Indeed, at times we were drowned out by shouted conversation from out-of-sight staff  in the kitchen (a distance of at least 30 feet away).

Then, during all of this noise someone in the kitchen decided to add to it by putting his own music on a different stereo at such a volume that it drowned out the music in the dining area and contributed further to the (rapidly deteriorating & annoying) atmosphere within the pub.

The fact that this person’s particular choice of music was utter rubbish and sounded like the kind of nonsense you get in rough clubs where the police are seemingly in permanent residence outside of was entirely beside the point. It showed a distinct lack of consideration and respect for the customers still dining to have this racket on in the background.

When my partner asked why there was now two sets of music playing, we were told it was “because someone in the back was being annoying and has decided to put his own music on”. When we then requested this music be turned off, instead of dealing with it discreetly she walked off shouting to the kitchen to turn it off as “these customers here are complaining about it”. Hardly the way to handle a customer complaint.

After all of this carrying on we finished our main course, still with the noise of over-excited and overly loud staff all around us. We then ordered dessert and were met with yet more noise.

Christmas decorations were noisily brought into the dining area by the staff and unpacked and assembled (again, very noisily) prior to putting them on the walls.

When they were being put on the walls, nails were banged in with such force and volume that it was like being in the middle of an episode of DIY SOS. We couldn’t hear what each other was saying and the staff merely laughed and joked about how much noise they were causing.

I overheard one ask another if they’d been paid to stay late and put the decorations up as they themselves had. If they were being paid to stay late after closing this begs the question of why exactly they were doing this while the pub was still open and people were still eating.

I understand people want to get home at night after a shift and if they’d done it in an area that was entirely empty and far away from the people still eating then fair enough, but it was right next to us and VERY loud.

It got louder, however, as the staff got closer with their decorations.

At one point someone was banging a nail into the wall about 3 feet away from where I was sat. Only after a glance at us did this person ‘realise’ we were actually there & theatrically apologised for how much noise they were making. We were really so invisible up to that point?

By now I had lost my appetite and was in no mood to stay in this place or finish my dinner. My partner however had not finished her dessert. I sat there highly annoyed and eager to get out of there.

While sat there I thought to myself “The only thing the staff HAVEN’T done is swear”.

It then happened almost on cue.

As someone was cleaning down the serving area he loudly exclaimed for anyone to hear: “I fucking love this job, especially at this time on a Sunday”. Unbelievable.

Then, after hearing this, one of the more louder-mouthed female members of staff started telling someone (at such a volume that she seemed to be addressing the whole room) about her relationship history and current status.

Apparently she went out with ‘Martin’ so she could get to know his mate ‘Dave’ (names changed to protect the innocent).

So, in fact, Martin hadn’t used HER she had in fact used HIM. And she dumped him first too. This final point seemed very important to her as she said it even LOUDER than the rest of the shouting.

Interesting? Maybe.

Perfect for an episode of Jeremy Kyle, yes, but I have the option of turning the TV off with that. There was no turning this off. I don’t want to hear that kind of rubbish, especially not in a restaurant from the staff while they’re supposedly working (and I use the term ‘working’ in its loosest possible sense).

I don’t know the specific staffing circumstances of yesterday evening but it was clear there was no manager on duty to control and direct the staff. If there was, this manager was either joining in, completely inept or just plain disinterested in ensuring a good atmosphere and good service for their customers.

We felt as though we were in the staff’s way throughout and were an inconvenience. A feeling compounded by being presented the bill well before we were finished eating as a clear “get out of the pub now” message. This was at 9:55pm – we’d been there less than an hour and last orders hadn’t even been called at the bar.

The level of professionalism and consideration shown by the staff was completely unacceptable throughout.

As already mentioned, this whole experience ended up feeling like trying to eat dinner while simultaneously being in the audience of the Jeremy Kyle show while someone sits behind you loudly banging things with a hammer.

And then we had to PAY for this? Just unacceptable.

I await your prompt response.”

Let’s see if/when I get a reply shall we?

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The city offer you quality choice and a fulfilling experience for even the most discerning group, giving you boys precisely what you want from your Nottingham stag weekend. What makes the Nottingham City outstanding is, it is here, you can count on brilliant bar staff, an unpretentious atmosphere, reasonable prices and massive choices. This choice is available not only in eating and drinking, but also applies to shopping, activity centres, markets, tours and historical attractions. The city is concentrated more on to pubs, inns and taverns that compete with your custom. You’ll find a restaurant on every corner, most of them offering great deals in attractive surroundings. And sure, the nightclubs does more work in making your stag nights jolting with fun and laughter.

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A few weeks ago I blogged about my invisible cloak I sometime don when I go into John Lewis – especially in the cafe.

We went in again yesterday. At around 10.00am. There was a queue – fair enough as the Christmas-Mentalists have emerged to do the shopping, all at once. But the queue I discovered was not because of the volume of people – it was because there was one member of staff on the till on his own. The other one was in search of jugs (first) and then milk (second). I did wonder if they could have sorted this before they opened? So two members of staff – and one wandering around looking for stuff they need.

It took 15 minutes to get a cup of coffee, cheese scone, biscuit and diet coke. Thank goodness we didn’t want breakfast – as that queue was much longer. This is where the word “brunch” originated – a man went into John Lewis for breakfast and by the time he got his breakfast it was lunch…

When I was in the USA with the Sheriff of Nottingham looking at world class attractions we found that a food offer was a really important element of the attraction – good and bad food experiences ’stuck’. Sorry John Lewis you are not at the good end of the scale at the moment.

In the old days – when God was a boy, the Jessops was a great shop. You had a debit card that was brilliant in its simplicity – now I have a Partnership Card – which is so sensitive that if I scrape snow off my car with it they know and ‘block it’. Last month they stopped it because I used in the Apple Store – where there is loads of fraud according to them after I had to call them to say yes I had bought a magic mouse (which is excellent).

Today in John Lewis there was a ‘competitors event’ and some items were reduced by 20% – which in its self sounds great – except that the stuff I wanted wasn’t in the sale (Crew Clothing wasn’t in but Gant was). And it’s a one day event -so prices go up tomorrow – which is an admission tacitly that they are ripping you off? Surely if they are ‘never knowingly undersold’ the prices could go down by 20%? But I know this not to be that case as we bought some goods last month and then had to exchange them – when we went back the prices had gone up. And the reason – well never knowingly undersold means they check their competitors prices – and they sometimes put them up! This may be commercial reality – but it’s not really cricket is it?

When we needed more refreshment we decided not to patronise them again and headed off for The Walk – at the top of King Johns Arcade – a European style cafe bar – where the service is much better than John Lewis. The food is great too – and if you are a fan of tea – it’s the place for you. The cheese board is great! And the Walk are providing the cafe at the new Nottingham Contemporary – where I had great food in the week!

So, in future we’ll go to The Walk for breakfast. And maybe the Contemporary for lunch? And they are at the good end of my scale!

p.s. I still hate the Nottingham Contemporary building!

my image of Little Boots at the Bowery Ballroom September 2009

STARTER

Lionel Rich Tea / Hot Chocolate

It made me smile! The power of collaboration!

ps She can sing too – here she is on Youtube with a great acoustic version of Earthquake – if you get the chance go and see her! And if you are ever in New York, look up the Bowery and see what’s on, it too is a great venue.

It’s late in the afternoon and I’m driving along a dual carriageway on the outskirts of Nottingham on my way to deliver a Citreon C2 to a dealership in Derby.

As I go around a busy island there is another plater standing at the exit, trying to hitch a ride, holding a sign saying ‘Derby’.

There is a car close behind me and no shoulder to pull over onto, so I have to keep going. However, there is a signpost indicating that there is a lay-by a quarter of a mile further up so I decide to stop there and go back for him.

But by the time I get to the lay-by it seems further than this and as I pull in I find myself wondering if it is beyond the call of duty for me to go stumbling back along the grass verge in the dark. If anyone did that for me my gratitude would be tinged with suspicion – there is some solidarity amongst platers, but not usually that much, and it isn’t as if the guy is stuck in the middle of nowhere.

But since I’ve taken the trouble to pull over I decide that I might as well follow through with the plan. The roaring traffic and the lumpy overgrown grass makes the distance back seem even longer, and my actions feel even stranger.

He has his back to me and can’t see me approaching. I’m almost close enough to call out to him when a car pulls over next to him and within five seconds he is inside and on his way, without even noticing me there.

I guess I ought to feel unhappy about the wasted effort, but more than anything I feel relieved as I turn round to trudge back to the car.

Heute gibt es mal wieder einen Blogeintrag. Meine Abwesenheit ist durch einen dreitägigen Trip nach London zu erklären. Es war wie immer wirklich klasse. Den Trip führte ich mit meiner Schwester durch, die noch nicht in London war. Also standn sämtliche Sehenswürdigkeiten auf dem Programm: British Museum, Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, usw. Es ist schon wirklich klasse, was man in London alles innerhalb von nur ein paar Tagen alles sehen kann. Aber es ist auch immer klasse, dass man immer wieder, selbst wenn man schon mehrfach da war, was neues entdecken kann. Die schiere Größe des Hyde Parks war mir bei meinen vorherigen Reisen in die britische Hauptstadt nicht wirklich bewusst und auch der deutsche  (bzw. genauer gesagt, der kölsche) Weihnachtsmarkt an der Uferpromenade der Themse nahe des London Eye war wirklich sehr heimelig.
Auch könnte ich einfach jeden Tag ins British Museum gehen und mir immer wieder die ägyptische und griechisch/römische Abteilung angucken. Einfach nur der absolute Hammer! Auch die lecker Pizza, die wir in irgendeiner noblen Pizzeria in der Nähe des Charing Cross-Bahnhofes gegessen haben, war zwar teuer, aber superlecker. Auch unser Hotel wußte zu überzeugen: Das “Central London Hotel” war preislich sehr erschwinglich und seine Lage war unschlagbar: Keine hundert Meter entfernt vom King’s Cross-Bahnhof mitten in der Innenstadt und direkt neben diversen Fast Food-Filialen. Das Zimmer an sich war zwar wirklich klein (klein heißt hier: Es war schlicht unmöglich sich im Badezimmer um die eigene Achse zu drehen), aber dafür supersauber  und ganz nett eingerichtet. Heute kam ich also nach drei Tagen quälenden Fußmärschen zurück nach Nottingham. Fazit: London ist einfach eine geile Stadt und eine Fahrt dorthin lohnt sich immer. Auch wenn ich jetzt froh bin wieder in einer 250.000 Einwohner-Stadt zu sein, in der alles etwas ruhiger und gemählicher abgeht.
Finally ein paar Fotos:

(von links nach rechts, von oben nach unten): 1. der Sherlock Holmes-Pub, 2. der Swiss RE-Tower und der Tower of London – Geschichte trifft Moderne, 3. Ich vorm Buckingham Palace, 4. King’s Cross, 5. Malerei aus dem Grab des Nebamun im British Museum, 6. der kölsche Weihnachtsmarkt, 7. Skyline, 8. Houses of Parliaments, 9. weihnachtliches Harrods

In between London holiday I went to Nottingham and surrounds, it’s about 1.5 hour trip by train, not so faraway, the train tickets doesn’t cost a lot thanks to cheap ticket website of megabus.com (not a promotion ). I stayed there with my senior, and coincidentally I met my sister’s highschool friend (what a small world!)

Nottingham is famous as hometown of Robin Hood, as I’m expected there is Robin Hood statue, plaquets of Robin Hood story, Miriam Lane, Guided tour of Nottingham Forest (where Robin Hood’s legend taken place), and nevertheless Robin Hood’s Teddy Bear hehehe..

I walk around the city with Orin, and we went to thelike city centre (it’s not very much different with Delft, but in british style). During the summer time the city also have like summer fair, the put huge sand box in the middle of city, some games, and everything that relate to silly tropical country including small luau to sell ticket, and also I went to the oldest club in the world they called it ‘Ye olde Jerusalem’ the name is based on some history on crusades (I forgot about the story). Oh anyway, the city is pretty hilly, so when I want to look on the university, i have to walk upward to the bus stop, and yes it drives me crazy to walk like that.

I went around the university and I found that the university is really really beautifulthe lake is really huge, andwith trent building as back groundit makes the picture perfect so postcard-worthy ( I invented this word, if I took a picture of some place that I thougt it could be used as postcard or wall paper in mass production I would use this word) the campus itself is huge!It’s bigger than TU and (once again) hilly! Orin told me everything about the university, the function of each building, the park, and also the social life there, I really envy to know that they have strong moslem society, and pretty a lot of activities that gather international student and local student (that’s the beauty of studying on english speaking country!).

Went home and felt so tired (hey! I’m not really used to hiking anyway) ,watched CSI with a bunchwith the housmates and slept. The next day I went a ride to Peak District, it’s famous for it’s hiking trail, once again I’m done with everything that related to hiking, so this is my plan I went to Buxton and then I stop in some cities along the bus stop (my first plan is Liverpool, but it’s hell a long of journey). Buxton city, what should I say about it, it’s typical small city in  Narthern England mountanious area, famous as spa city (eventhough all I see is swimming pool) there are a lot of tourists come every year to the city. I have to admit that they have really nice opera house, I think there are also few famous theatre act shown there. I walk through the park and saw the original UK’s puppet show, it’s Punch and Judy, their jokes are typical UK’s black comedy, and it’s kind of annoying because most of the audiencea are children, but I guess it doen’t matter for them.

All the way return to Nottingham I stopped by in small city of Matlock, nothing fancy there I just took some picture and chasing the bus to return to Nottingham. Then return home, on the day after I return to London, taking the train on the rainy day.

I have to admit (and I guess you will be aware from other blogs) that I am now fed up with the Christmas music in Starbucks. The staff at Castle Marina know this (and secretly they are fed up too) but they are not allowed to say. They do turn it down for me… and for them?

Slumming it in the Champagne Bar at the IOW Festival - tough but someone has to do it?

May seems a lifetime away and Summer will hopefully be in full swing! And talking of Summer – the IOW tickets go on sale next week! This will be our 6th year of going back to nature. It’s my contribution to being green. Park the car and ‘live off the land’ for four days… We are eagerly anticipating the line-up – but to be honest we’ll go whoever is playing. We sometimes give bands a miss, but the list of people we have seen is quite impressive – Bowie, Rolling Stones, The Police, REM. But we have had some surprises too – The Magic Numbers, Snow Patrol and Newton Faulkner (doing Bohemian Rhapsody) were really good – on their debuts.

The Festival is quite an experience, especially the toilets and showers. As this is a family orientated blog I can’t actually describe the toilets. But the showers are great – if you can wash in a mug full of hot water – and then wait ten minutes for the next mug! And that’s after you have queued for an hour. Basic diet consists of Pig Sandwiches and Lager – quite healthy!

We both had new tents this year – as the old ones had a peculiar smell. Febreze tried but failed.

So, whilst not wishing my life away – I am already looking forward to Summer – and no more dark mornings or Christmas music!

UPDATE 1st DECEMBER

Tickets to Isle of Wight booked! And Squeeze are playing on the Thursday night – result! No big names yet (I don’t count Jay-Z as a big name!)

When schoolteachers ask the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up Billy?” Children normally reply by saying a police officer, a fireman, nurse, doctor or prime minister.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if little Billy faced the class and told them he would like to be a nuclear physicist, a spin doctor for the New World Order or a high-class pimp with a harem of scantily clad Amazonian beauties at his disposal!

Personally, I always wanted to be a writer or a journalist of some kind. The problem with my forward thinking plan is that I was only 13 years old with minimal self-motivation and understanding of the real world. I didn’t know what opportunities life had to offer, so I drifted around between the music industry and meaningless factory jobs packing tinned gherkins into small boxes and then placing those into even bigger boxes. Riveting stuff, no?

Only when I obtained a well-paid job working for photography giants, Kodak, did I earn enough money to start travelling around and exploring the far reaches of this big watery ball that circles the big orange fiery thing. Unfortunately, I only got as far as Thailand!

Many things have been said about Thailand, and whatever your perspective, I find it to be one of the safest places I have lived. Some people say how dangerous the beach road in Pattaya is at 4am in the morning. They should try being an away supporter attempting to leave Hull City’s football stadium on a Saturday afternoon after scoring a last minute winner. That’s danger!

To cut a long story short, during my time hovering above the equator, I became reacquainted with my love for putting words together in a certain way that resemble sentences and paragraphs. I had always expressed myself through the written word since my late teens, writing and performing raps with some of Nottingham’s finest. I wasn’t very good… at rapping that is! But I can’t remember any coalminer’s sons that were. However, I did realize that I was bestowed with a rangy vocabulary.

Since moving to the tropical island of Phuket five years ago, many things have changed in my life. I have been following the dream like so many others on the island, trying to make cash from various writing jobs and other forms of skulduggery. Over the past five years, I have written for publications such as the Phuket Gazette, Phuket Post, a myriad of tourist magazines and a colossal amount of websites and blogs.

Am I making a massive fortune? Nah, not really. Nevertheless, in relative terms compared to England, I am doing pretty well. It could be better, but we shouldn’t tempt fate or be too greedy!

One thing that I have learned though is to always follow your dreams passionately and always believe in yourself and the possibilities out there. I know it sounds corny, but you can create your own destiny with a bit of willpower, a smidgen of talent and strong self-belief.

Anthony Bolton the legendary Fidelity fund manager wrote an exclusive article reviewing the past decade
and making predictions for the next one. His wide ranging piece covers the future of commodities, emerging markets, growth in the West and fund management.

Given the great man’s surprise return to fund management with a China fund, Credencis reproduce below exclusive extracts:-

Emerging markets

The stars of the past decade have been the emerging markets – Asia ex Japan has risen from 5% to 14% and the Rest of the World from 5% to 13% – so that these markets (which include some no longer categorised as ‘emerging’) account for over a quarter of the investible universe today. These shifts have resulted from a combination of currency and share price movements as well as new companies coming to the market and the inclusion in the index of some new markets.

Having an exposure to emerging markets over the past 10 years has been a significant advantage and, given the ongoing impact of the financial crisis on the developed world, I expect the relative growth of the emerging markets to
continue.

Shifting sectors

It’s not just different markets that have waxed and waned but also sectors. In the UK, basic resources, oil and gas between them accounted for just 13% of the market a decade ago – today that has more than doubled, largely at the
expense of healthcare and telecoms. The increased weighting of commodity shares reflects their strong performance
in the last bull market and strong bounce this year. However, I am less optimistic about these sectors looking forward and think the best areas will be companies that can show above average growth in a low growth world. Being in
the right sectors has mattered in the last 10 years and will continue to do so.

But the winners in a bull market are rarely the same as the leaders in the previous cycle.

Impact of the financial crisis

I guess any review of the last 10 years is not complete without some reference to the financial crisis. This was the sixth banking crisis I have experienced in my 38 years in the business and I’m sure it won’t be the last. We are fortunate to have governments in the West who have learnt from the past and acted quickly and decisively to address the situation.
My concern is that, in solving today’s immediate problem, they have saddled some of the world’s leading economies with a longterm cost in the form of interest payments on a much increased level of government debt. I believe that
this will result in lower growth rates in the West than would otherwise have been the case.

How professional fund management will evolve

Looking forward, I would be surprised if the next 10 years were as disappointing as the last 10 for the world’s stock markets as a whole. However, even if they are not, I think investors’ recent experience will lead during the next decade to a blurring of the edges between hedge funds and the traditional longonly world.

The Ucits III framework is already pushing in this direction. As my two successors on the Fidelity Special Situations and Fidelity Global Special Situations funds demonstrate, the fund manager of the future will need to be skilled in being short of shares as well as long.

How to run money

I think that there are three things an investor must do:
• be organised
• focus on the different and unusual
• and know what you are not interested in.

Credencis offer bespoke investment advice in an ever changing financial climate. We are situated near to Derby, Leicester, and Nottingham.

Credencis

“Live for today, Invest for tomorrow”

Trafalgar Square was exquisite. At night it always seems soft to me, with the warm lights and the cosy darkness wrapped around you. But yesterday morning it was as ice. The sky appeared brittle blue, and the sun was hard and chill. The water from the fountain cascaded in the unbreaking tinkle of diamonds flecked with light. The puddles shone like daggers, blinding. It made me want to sit with Virginia Woolf and bite my fingers.

The fountains are beautifully lit by alternating colours after dark

I’d just left the National Gallery, which seemed hot and stifled against the brightness of the morning, wherein was enclosed my friend Ella, a music student at Nottingham Conservatoire, and accomplished flautist, pianist and whatever the world is for piccolo player, and amongst other qualities a wonderful friend. She’d come down to London quite upon a whim; an email advertising the event – a day for undergraduate students on the importance of and how to improve performance in music, based upon the interchangeability of arts – a quick check of coach prices, and a phonecall to me asking if my sofa was available. She saw a moment, could afford it, and did it. I respect her for that, but I love her for it too.

So we went to see Phantom of the Opera, her favourite musical, because she was only down for one evening. We met after my lecture at 5o’clock when her coach arrived at Victoria; I furnished her with an oyster card, and we went for dinner at Pizza Express and then to the show. Naturally, it was mind blowing. Ella must’ve seen the DVD a thousand times over, knew every nuance, every note, and listened to the soundtrack on the way down. I knew nothing, never having seen or heard either. For me, it was a revelation; for her, it was a tautening of the drum skin, a heightening of all she’d known previously. The singing, she assured me, was spectacular; I found my comfortable niche as theatre technician and approved most of the costume, set and lighting designs above all else. It was fascinating. We applauded the orchestra especially hard, and told each other stories of the days when she would be in the pit, and I writing lines for her to play to.

The next day I left early and set her up comfortably in the National well ahead of schedule. We even found time to peruse a few paintings in the National Gallery itself; some Turner, I recall. Then I stole some tea arranged for the participants of the day, and she was called in. They worked ekphrastically, combining poetry, painting and musical performance. She tells me it was interesting and helpful. She’s entering a competition later this month for the day – she will find and record herself performing a piece of music related to a painting of the story of Samson and Delilah, of which she bought a little postcard.

The only trouble was during her day I found myself in a puddle of tears in a small toilet on the strand campus for nearly an hour before my seminar. I got some bad news, which knocked me and left me quaking. It feels like, and I believe is, a big set back – stagnation being something that I see as destructive. The achievements of almost a years struggle seemed desecrated and replaced with the sensation of being right back where I started. Again, I felt a sympathy with Virginia Woolf; a contrast which sickened me after my proasic walk and thoughts of her traversing Trafalgar barely hours ago.

I think it’s not helped by a growing feeling of isolation within my university. Last friday I went out with my workmates – just dinner at an Indian restaurant and then a few drinks at the pub. And I recalled the feeling of my childhood, where I was always at ease with people much older than myself – my parents or even grandparents friends – beyond my peers. I’ve got it constantly through life, but there’s only so many times I want to be told I’m old before my years, or more mature, and more sensible, and more this or that than people my own age. I know it, I’ve struggled with it for years waiting for my age group to catch up. Even now I feel it on my course, with silly little girls set against my genuine passion for language and literature. But beyond even that old gripe, I just don’t seem to have any friends at university. I connect more with 30year-olds at work – I find pleasure more in their company than those who should be my friends and equals.

There are three exceptions; my housemate Jamie, my friend Hell (short for Helen), and a chap called Sam who I only bump into around campus when he isn’t with his girlfriend. There are several acquaintances I don’t think disparagingly of, notably a beautiful girl called Yasmine who I make small talk with sometimes and Frankie, but I feel like they aren’t my friends and we don’t spend time together outside lecture halls. Outside of my course, there’s Sheena, who I adore, and my old halls friends, who I exclusively don’t see. The only other students I spend time with from London go to Imperial, and are my boyfriends housemates, who are some of the best people I know regardless of age or occupation. I can’t speak highly enough of them. But at the same time, the sheer frustration that I like more people from Imperial than from Kings is like a consumption.

Compounded with this my friends at home seem to be bickering, and I don’t even know what about; talk of not speaking to each other communally on facebook anymore, complaints of tension and bitching and insulting, suggestions of avoiding things til Christmas (as if that’d solve a problem) I just can’t see – I feel like I have nothing to contribute to that. And I just don’t know if saying nothing can be considered an option b. (I don’t know, maybe it is. I think there’s overreaction left right and centre and shutting up is a valid (over?)reaction to overreaction. More and more I find myself doing this, and feeling like all I can present to the world is apathy.)

So as always, it comes back to the same old thing. People saying I’m very mature for 21 – oh, you’re only 19? I assumed you were older, you seem very much older – well, I feel much older, in the world wearied sense which is lethargy mixed with exhaustion, and I can’t put a finger on which. It seems to yo-yo wildly between the two. So with a cynical sigh I try to scrape together some enthusiasm for pretending I feel as young as my years and sap strength to convince myself of motivation.

… I failed. I’m missing my lecture today. I doubt I’ll leave my boyfriend’s bedroom. And he shouldn’t have to do this, have to come back to me, sat here like a broken doll on his bed, vampirically hoping to drain his support to substitute my own. It’s him I feel for more me, because he has to deal with it and bear the brunt of it, this “me” made of metaphors and rejections made redundant.

Talk to me in a fortnight’s time, when I’ve spent the weekend with Laura, when I’ve been to the Cosplay ball with Jamie and Sheena and King’s GeekSoc on Sunday, when Elford and I have celebrated our anniversary, when I’ve spent some more time with Geeksoc at the wednesday pub meet and tried the socialising thing, when my friend Rob stays around and I’ve met his Canadian (Canadienne?) girlfriend, when Whyman comes up from Brighton and we all see Eddie Izzard, when my birthday party has taken place, when my parents have taken us to Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho, when I’ve tried to sort out that bad news as best as I can for now – and maybe I’ll be more useful, more proactive.

And people will congratulate me and say what a sensible and mature girl I am, especially for my age, and I’ll sigh and feel like my chest is being pressed upon by some great weight I can’t identify, and feel like I’ve not moved a single step forward since last year, so people’ll be right; I’ll be older than my age.

I managed to get a very quick look around the new Nottingham Contemporary yesterday. I was pushed for time, but my mate John Lyle had text me earlier in the week to say how much he hated it. So I thought I had better see what the fuss was about.

Nottingham Contemporary - Lace patterned concrete

The hideous sign at Nottingham Contemporary

But this is exhibition space and thus big white boxes prevail. And thats what they are. There are a series of them. And they are…big and white. Not disappointed about that – but surely this is the easy bit? Even I can design a big white box!

I peeped in the cinema / performance space which looks ok. And the cafe was quite good. It has a mix of social and formal seating – the food was reasonably priced and quite tasty. The toilets were purple! And no sign of the Dyson hand dryers?

So my overall impression? It’s ok. They have done well to get the Hockney Exhibition – the Bigger Splash thingy is … big! The new retro ‘diner’ sign is completely out of context and I can’t help wonder what the planners were thinking. The outside is horrible, the inside passable, but not ‘wow’. And is was only double the price of its original budget… Only a ‘C’ for me then. And a scraped ‘C’ at that!

Well it has been a long while since I last updated my blog, this was due to being out in Nottingham attending the GameCity Squared event that was being held there over 4 days. Now that im back I can update my blog with the happenings whilst I was there.

The event this year was set up by Dave Surman – Lecturer of the Computer Games Design course I am studying at the University of Wales, Newport. The news was very promising when Dave presented the line up of Games Designers from Industry that were going to be there, and what a line up it was.

Masaya Matsuura creator of such games as ‘Parrapa the Rappa’ and ‘Vib Ribbon’ to name but a few. Rex Crowle from company Media Molecule whom made the hugely successful ‘Little Big Planet’, Robin Hunicke who works for That Game Company on the most beautiful PS3 title ‘Flower’. Barbarra Lippe Lead Artist from small Indie company Avaloop who worked on experimental MMO ‘Papermint’. Alongside the main highlights of the event were surprise guests; Jon Burgerman an Illustrator whose such works are held in Exhibitions all over and Keita Takahashi creator of ‘Beautiful Katamari’ and ‘Noby Noby Boy’. It was completely mind blowing to say the least to have so many great and wonderful designers on stage at the same time answering questions set by Dave and even from a few of the audience members towards the end of the event.

Not to say that was all the event had to offer. The ‘Night Blooms’ event was hosted by Robin Hunicke the very same night in which she played ‘Flower’ from start to finish, although it may sound rather drab a concept, it was surprising beautiful, the game was projected onto a series of projector screens that were set up above where Robin was sat and as she was playing petals would fall down from above as the action in game gotten more intense. It was such a nice event to call it a night.

The next day had a number of interesting events to attend but on top of that was my birthday, so two bits of excitement in one day. First off was the Bizarre Creations Art Clinic, I attended to get professional feedback of my work and various questions about the industry, it was a very pleasant experience and extremely helpful. I just wish that I had prepared more work to show. Then later on that day Masaya Matsuura had set another event, this one involved people and kazoos!? Yes I know it was a big shock but was a lot of fun, Matsuura had everyone play along as he conducted. Then there was a competition held at the end in which a couple of people went up on stage to play songs on their kazoos. Then to call it a day I went to celebrate my birthday by going out to the pit and the pendulum, a Gothic styled nightclub with my girlfriend.

The last day was focused on Masaya Matsuura and his keynote speech of the GameCity Squared event. It was a really interesting speech that expressed his views on the industry and where it can go. To finish the event Matsuura performed the song ‘Unforgettable’ which was really quite amazing, everyone loved it so much that they wanted an encore which he was more than happy to do. After the event was over and most of the set-ups in the main square were being dismantled, there was only one thing left to do with our stay at Nottingham. Try and get into the after-party where all the designers were. Me and my girlfriend went out dressed as the Joker and Harlequin and we met up with various people from our class that were also dressed up. Thank god because they wouldn’t let anyone into the party unless they had a costume. But at first that didn’t matter as they wouldn’t let us in as we weren’t invited. Thankfully they lady in reception said that if the people on the list didn’t turn up by about 12:00 they would let us in. Well we got in in the end, my face- paint got all smudged and I got pretty drunk but it was great fun. The next day we got on the coach to return home.

Well I went on for quite a while with this post, but I felt the need to share the event with everyone. Shame I didn’t take a camera, would have been great to have posted a few pictures. Now that I’m back though its about time to get on with the project again.