Tuesday 26 May 2009

Deaf as well as dumb?


I am sitting on the Stansted Express trying to write about the whole icky affair that was my appendicitis (coming soon to a blog near you...the story that is, not the appendicitis) and there’s a very annoying noise coming from the seat behind me. In fact, it’s a series of annoying noises that may be emanating from a series itself. A couple – white European looking types – are watching something on their laptop…WITHOUT HEADPHONES. Good god – is this what modern life has given us? Bad enough that one frequently has to listen to the whining sounds leaking from people’s iPods – but now these mofos can’t even be bothered to use headphones. I give up. I feel like an old complaining woman, but there you have it. The mind of a 90 year old trapped in the body of a 28 year old. I’ve even done the British thing and stared at them three times. Each time, they’ve acknowledged the stare and subsequently done nothing. The guy sitting opposite me has just got up and moved. I’m loathe to follow suit having secured such a good seat when I boarded, but there’s nothing for it if I want to continue to write. In my little Irish head, I’m shaking my fist, while shouting “bloody foreigners”. Oh well, perhaps one of our beloved hoodrats will relieve them of their laptop during their visit to the Big Smoke. Ahhh…that’s made me feel better…

Tuesday 19 May 2009

Painting by numbers

So my excuse for not writing on my blog is that I've actually been writing elsewhere. Here's an article I wrote for RWD magazine - currently available in all good record shops and in Footlocker. Click on the image should you be interested in reading the actual text!


Monday 11 May 2009

Freeness in London


One of the best things about this city is the number of free things that are available to do. Even better is the free education on offer. A number of museums, galleries, book stores and assorted venues frequently offer free (or cheap) talks. I recently went to one at the Wellcome Collection on Euston Road - an amazing venue where science collides with art. I wrote about it for Ctrl+Alt+Shift - you can read the article here.

The talk on disorders was linked to an exhibition of diary entries by the artist Bobby Baker. I only managed to get round half the exhibition before I had to scoot off for dinner, but I am determined to go back. I loved her candour, honesty and truthfulness (sorry - have just recently be reading a piece about Americans' love of linking three similar adjectives together to try to sound intelligent) and her style is reminiscent of Quentin Blake (who used to illustrate for Roald Dahl).