"He made a record, it made him famous yes it made him a star"

I was watching The Office last night, the one with the quiz. It doesn't get any less hilarious after repeated viewing, does it?
During that particular episode there is a reference to one of my all time heroes. A fella who I hold in extremely high regard.
I once did a post detailing my ongoing devotion to Depeche Mode & since then I knew I would eventually do a similar post for this special man...


Yes, It's Nik Kershaw.

although he may look more familiar like this...









Twas around the time of my 14th birthday, Nik had appeared on Top of the Pops with his single "Wouldn't it be good". At that time my family had somehow become one of the first to have a video recorder in our home. I had taped TOTP the previous night & distinctly remember watching Nik's performance again on that Friday morning. I was extremely taken with the song (more on that later), but I also, inexplicably, really liked the clothes he was wearing & how "cool" he looked playing the solo on the lone keyboard in front of him. This would end up having a great influence on my summer of '84 look. Most non-school days I could be found sporting day-glo socks & fingerless gloves combined with baggy trousers with umpteen pockets (combats, basically, except white) & regulation Frankie Say T-shirt. Pretty picture, eh?

The very next day, Saturday, I went into town & bought "Wouldn't it be good". I played it & it's B-side "Monkey business" to death. I still love both of those songs to this day. "Wouldn't it be good" as proved to be very enduring, of course it sounds very 80's but it still gets regular airplay on the radio. No doubt because it is simply a great song that most people can easily relate to.
Very soon afterwards there was the album:
"Human Racing" still remains to this day a real big favourite album of mine.
At the time though, I all but wore it out!
"Gone to pieces", "Faces" & "Shame on you" were all strong enough to be singles but never were. The follow up single to "Wouldn't it be good" was "Dancing Girls", which was OK.
Then Nik's debut single was re-released. "I won't let the sun go down on me" became Nik's biggest hit when it got to No.2 in the summer of 84 (twas only held off the top spot by FGTH's mammoth 9 week stint at the top with "Two tribes", fact fans). For me though (& for the man himself, actually), it's one of my least favourites & I find it a bit annoying when people base their opinions of Nik on this song.
The title track came later as the 4th single & then something completely unheard of in this day & age happened. In November of 1984 Nik released his second album "The Riddle", just 9 months after "Human Racing".
Ace!
The album was preceded by the title track as a single. I remember the first time I heard it was through the static on Radio Luxembourg & prior to the vocal kicking in, I thought it was Abba!
"The Riddle" sparked all sorts of conjecture as to what the meaning of the lyrics were. What was the answer to the Riddle? Nik himself received thousands of essays & analyses trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. Many, many years later, Nik confessed that the lyrics were "wholly meaningless". Excellent! (I personally never tried figuring it out, I couldn't be arsed!)
The single got to No.3 & ensured that Nik Kershaw was officially the most successful solo artist of 1984.
The album was a more finely tuned update of "Human racing", my favourite song off it, both then & now, is "You might".
I used to hear it as a warning to myself not to fail in my quest to be a "pop star", now I feel it word for word. Let me give you an extract;


"off to face the world again, past the bedroom mirror
ignorance is bliss, they say couldn't be much clearer
imaging what might have been, thinking it could still be
all the lost years in between, still a sucker for a dream...

play the fool and act the clown, impress your friends and neighbours
not so good when you come down with nothing for your labours
you could've been a movie star, you could've been a hero
you could have won a bridge too far, the best you get is no cigar"

Hmmm.

Anyway, during 1985 Nik signed up for his moment of history by performing at Live Aid, where he played "Wide boy", "Don Quixote", "The riddle" & "Wouldn't it be good".
At the end of 1985 he released "When a heart beats" as a single, it only just scraped into the top 30. Sadly Nik would never trouble the top 40 again as a performer.

1986 saw the release of the album "Radio Musicola" which hardly anybody bought. (I did, obviously). In March (I think) of 1987 I went to Bradford St.Georges hall (on my own) to finally see Nik performing live. I had a thoroughly great time & was delighted when he played "So quiet" a B-side that I have always adored. It's actually one of 2 songs I want played at my funeral.
One of the other qualities I've always admired about Mr. K is his affable nature & keen sense of humour. That night he made many a joke about how sparse the crowd were & how he was hurtling "down the dumper".

In 1989 even less people bought "The Works".
Both albums were fine collections of songs that deserved better.
And with that Nik decided to hang up his mic & concentrate on writing for other people, which had always been his intention in the first place.

In 1991, he achieved a No.1 single as a writer & producer, when Chesney Hawkes took "The one & only" to the top spot. Say what you like about Chesney, but it's a damn fine song, it really is.

And that was that. Nik Kershaw; Gone but not forgotten.

Until 1999 when out of nowhere he released the album "15 minutes".
I was delighted! I was also really pleased that it was really good. One track, "Billy", was actually instrumental in me finally leaving my ex-wife! Cheers Nik!





In 2001 he released "To be Frank" which was an even better album than "15 minutes".
Both albums were obviously quite sylistically different from his earlier output but one thing has always remained constant for me; the songs.

All through his career it's been the songs that have always been of a high quality. People have many reasons for not liking Nik Kershaw: the teeny image, the nasal vocals, the introduction of the Snood into the world's consciousness. The songs though stand on their own.

Last year a "new" compilation; "Then & now" came out, which may be a good starting point for anyone wanting to explore Nik's work. I was a little disappointed with the 4 new songs though.
If anyone did want to explore a bit, I would be very happy to fashion a great Best of compilation.

Anyway, hat's off to Nik Kershaw!
My hero!

"Nurse me into sickness, nurse me back to health"

I am still ill (to paraphrase the great Moz).

I reckon I have a chest infection. I am coughing lots, sometimes when I cough particularly hard it gives me an intense headache. This makes me double up.
I feel weak & I have little appetite (which could be quite a good thing). I have not had a cigarette yet today. Fags only exacerbate the problem.
Thing is though, I am an addict. My body physically craves & demands nicotine even though it's going to affect my healing process. I have not been so strong over previous days & I fear my resistance will fade in the end & I shall be forced to suckle upon the teat of the stinking black temptress as she beckons me towards her comfortable bosom.

As I am ill I have done a lot of lying on the sofa with a duvet & a movie. I have just finished watching 28 Days Later. Now some of those people are ill. I actually thought it was quite a good film. It was cleverly made & it held my attention. It was also quite thought provoking.
For those who don't know, the basic premise of the story is thus: Guy wakes up in hospital after 28 days to find the whole country all but deserted. Those left are infected with a deadly plague which renders them zombie like. Guy tries to survive, meets other survivors, etc.
I'll leave it there. It did make a favourable impression on me though, another tick for the British Film Industry.

So to Blogland. I ask this; Are we infected? Is our little corner of the blogosphere suffering with some indeterminable ailment? I've been musing to myself on this since my return from France when I was able to totally re-immerse myself back into Blogland.
I feel that something isn't right. I haven't got a clue what it is but everything seems slower, there's less vitality. Everywhere I go comment sections are more sparsely populated than they used to be, updates seem less frequent &, oh I don't know, something just doesn't feel right.
I am not alone with these feelings, before posting this I have checked privately with a couple of fellow bloggers who also feel the same.

Don't get me wrong I'm not sounding the death knoll on anything, perhaps it's just the complete randomness of life manifesting itself in this odd manner.
Or perhaps I'm just being a spaz.
Or am I simply one of the infected?

"If they made a film of the book of the memories with Bobby De Niro & Demi De Moore"

I am ill.
It sucks.

"Oh it's not as good as the book".
These are words I have never spoken.
I dare say quite a few of you have & I have heard people speak variants of that phrase as I have exited the cinema.
I have never said it though, because as we have previously explored, I don't really do books.
However, stick a man on aeroplanes, put him in departure lounges & cage him in a hotel room & soon enough you'll find him with a book in his hand.
I actually read 5 books during my time in Lyon, but it's the first of these I'm going to talk about.
The book in question, I enjoyed immensely. I found myself making time to read it. Something I'd never done before. I actually recall saying at one point "I'm gonna give the pub a miss & have an early night with my book", which of course ended up being nothing like an early night because I just couldn't bloody stop reading. I was well & truly gripped.
When I finished the book I was gutted, simply because it had ended & I didn't want it to.

I'm guessing that the book world has many similarities with my natural habitat, the music world. That occasionally the No.1 bestseller is a genuinely good work by an author who has honed their skills over several works (like say U2 or Coldplay) but it's also not uncommon for the No.1 to be put in it's position by people who don't usually read books, just as in the music world many an album gets to number 1 without having the talent or spark of genius that you'd expect it to. Perhaps this quote (taken from Mark's blog) by James Blunt's producer may explain better; "I suppose it's just that I'm also aware of a wildly popular form of commercial music that appeals to the broad swathe of people who don't actually like music that much, or for whom at least music isn't particularly important, beyond its function as something to fill in life's sonic background."

I suspect that the book I'm talking about probably falls into this catergory in the eyes of regular bookreaders. I have seen it treated with disdain on a couple of occasions.
Of course, I'm talking about "The Da Vinci code" by Dan Brown.

I really, really enjoyed reading this book, much more than I thought possible.
Irrespective of whether the whole Mary Magdalene thing is utter hokum or not, I found that I was drawn in to every twist & turn of the story. I liked the central characters, I liked the pace of the read, god damn it I loved that book.

I've since read all Mr. Brown's books. I liked "Angels & demons" even more than the Da Vinci code (The whole science vs religion thing really floats my boat). The other 2 were ok but, again using music as my frame of reference, it was like listening to "Violator" & "Songs of faith & devotion" first & then checking out "Some great reward" & "Black celebration". Much the same flavour just not as tasty.

It's not long now till "The Da Vinci code" hits the silver screen. I will go to see it. I need to see it. I really was not pleased when I heard that Tom Hanks had been cast as Robert Langdon. I have nothing against the Hanksmeister at all (Forrest Gump being one of my favourite films, in which our Tom plays a blinder) it's just I didn't picture Robert like that when I read it. I expect this must be a popular gripe for those of you who read books a lot & then see them turned into films. It's just not right, is it? I really don't know who I would've chosen to play the part because to me Robert Langdon is Robert Langdon. And that's that.
Nor would I have chosen Sir Ian McKellen, I saw someone much shorter & rounder for the part of Leigh Teabling.

Still, all that said I will no doubt shuffle myself over to the multiplex come May to watch the movie.
I will also no doubt exit the cinema saying "Oh it's not as good as the book".

"All 7 & we'll watch them fall"

Tunes!!!

So I got tagged to give you the 7 tunes I'm currently digging, like I need a reason.

Aparently there are some rules;
List 7 songs you're into right now. No matter the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're any good, they must be songs you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they're listening too.

I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, just go ahead if you want to...

1>A certain romance - Arctic Monkeys
2>Kiss you better - Maximo Park
3>Come on / Let's go - Paul Weller
4>The happy lobotomy - The Bluetones
5>Drag - Placebo
6>I will see you in far off places - Morrissey
7>Suffer well - Depeche Mode

And there you go.

On another tunes tip, owner of I-pods/I-tunes step forward. Now we've all played the shuffle challenge before, but this time have a go at sorting your library by the number of plays & share your top ten.
Mine has only been logging since last June when I had a new hard drive installed but it shows what's been really floating my boat in that time frame...

1>Once a glimpse - Maximo Park (88 plays)
2>Apply some pressure - Maximo Park (80)
3>Dakota - Stereophonics (79)*
4>White celebration - Gnu Cnu (78)**
5>Tied up too tight - Hard-fi (75)
6>Talk - Coldplay (71)
=7>A certain romance - Arctic Monkeys (70)
=7>Fix you - Coldplay (70)
=7>Painting of a postcard - Maximo Park (70)
10>Speed of sound - Coldplay (69)

*Some of these plays are down to Nice who loves this song to bits.
**I feel a mixture of shame & pride about this. Shame at being such a self-obsessed pillock & pride that I've produced a piece of music that I love so much I can't help but listen to it lots (it sounds especially good through headphones, fact fans)

Anyway I'm off for part one of this week's football fest, ta ra!

"Although your trying not to listen..."

So for weeks I've been longing to regain full blog capabilities, yet now I have it I find I have nothing of consequence to say. Work has sucked major donkey balls & I still yearn for Lyon.
Today I am half-heartedly given my flat a spring clean, which is about as dull as dull can be.

Yesterday The Boy & I went to the brand spanking new Ricoh arena to watch Coventry city vs Leeds United. I was 20 when I went to my first Leeds match (incidentally also at Coventry City & also a 1-1 draw), The Boy is 6, jammy little bugger!
He really enjoyed it. I enjoyed his enjoyment of it but because we were in with the home fans I couldn't really get into it. Still at least I've finally been to a game this season.

Fellas, who else has fallen into the razor trap? In my bathroom I have no less than 7 different razors of which only one is in use. The reason for this is simple, yet flawed. Razor blades are so extortionatley overpriced that I get suckered in to buying a new razor for the same price or less than a pack of blades. Of course, the new razor only comes with 2 blades so it's not long until I'm facing the same dilemma again. And what do I do? Yup, I buy another razor.
France has allowed me to temporarily break the cycle as I managed to buy a couple of packs of blades as part of my living expenses. Result!
I'm currently shaving with one of these newfangled Mach 3 nitros. Blimey, it is good! The best a man can get?
Peut etre!
(Any employees of Gillette that may be reading, I would consider a sponsorship deal.)

Radio.
I very rarely listen to the radio these days but I've had to endure it at work over the last week. The station we have to listen to is Northants 96 - The hot FM. Oh Jesus!
It's so bad, the DJ's are mostly retarded buffoons (with the exception of the breakfast boys, Jagger & Woody, who are mildly entertaining buffoons), the music is utterly predictable & mostly lame. I reckon it's about one decent tune in five & one can never expect to hear anything "cutting edge". On Friday morning as part of the "workday windback" (snappy, eh?) they played what I consider to be the most vomit-inducing, toe curlingly cheesy song that has ever been inflicted upon humankind. Never mind your Chicos, birdie songs, Agadoos & Mr.Blobbys. Yes, they're god damn awful, but they're not to be taken seriously like the pull your ears off horror that is; "All I wanna do is make love to you" by Heart.
Oh.
My.
God.
Can anyone top that or, god forbid, defend it?

Over the last couple of weeks I have watched some movies. All previously unseen by me & all comedies.
Allegedly.
When I watch a comedy I want to laugh out loud, long & often. I can't remember doing that for a long old time. I watched Stuck on you, Mr. Deeds & The Longest Yard. None of them were bad as such & they killed a couple of hours, but I want to watch something that makes me pee my pants. Any recommendations would be gratefully received.

Well, I seem to have waffled on about nothing for long enough.

"We'll ask if we can have 6 in"

I went up to Yorkshire at the weekend, apologies to the DOJ for not getting together but it was a very whistle stop affair.
The Boy & I arrived in Wakefield about teatime on Saturday. The reason for the visit was for the celebration of my sister's & my Dad's birthdays. They share the 4th as a birthday, but bless them they put their festivities back a week so The Boy & I could join them. Our KId had done herself proud in organising it all. Though it was her birthday too she had pulled out all the stops for Dad as it was his 70th. We went to an Italian restaeraunt, but we went in style. Our Kid had booked a limo for the trip. Our Kid & I knew about this, but we hadn't told Mum or Dad. I had also kept The Boy in the dark about it. Our Kid's new fella (who is currently stood in line at the World of Flash name allocation counter) came along too & he seemed to be good, likeable bloke. The ride in the limo was ace! We all had champagne, Our Kid managed to find "Speed of sound" on one of the CD's & my Mum laughed a lot*.

* This is not unusual behaviour as my Mum laughs at literally anything.
At one point over the weekend The Boy, with no small measure of annoyance, asked me; "Dad, why does Nana always laugh all the time?"

The Boy was absolutely thrilled by the whole limo experience. His face was full of glee as he buzzed up & down & found the controls for the in car lighting system. It was a really nice family moment, which I happily took a moment to soak up, it's not very often we're all together & having such a nice time. The meal was very nice too, despite The Boy having a hissy fit about his Spag Bol having "green stuff" on it. Honestly, I don't know where he gets it from!

On Sunday Dad was feeling generous & bought me a new TV stand/ unit type thing as a belated birthday present.
I set about assembling it when we got home on Sunday afternoon. It took me nearly 3 bloody hours & I have 2 blisters now! One of which is particularly ghastly!
Porquoi?
Because as a fully paid up member of the stupid people's society, the only tools that I possess are a hammer & 2 very small screwdrivers. You know the ones that come in packs of 3 (including the bafflelingly odd miniature knitting needle) that come out of Christmas crackers? Them. The bloody thing had loads of screws, some of them requiring me to force the screw into the wood in a self-tapper stylee. Ow, ow, thrice ow!
Still it looks great now, so all is well (except for the blisters).

So I'm back at work now (drops shoulders & sighs heavily), it's been really nice to see everybody but it's just all so dull, all so normal, all so CRAPSVILLE!
Oh well, I've got to ride it out & it's not like I wasn't expecting it.

Disappointingly, I have had no acceptance messages from the winners of this year's Flashy's. Not even David Ford. Though I did receive a reply from Stereophonics' people saying "Sorry, that would not be possible".
Which leads me neatly into the prize for the most glamourous attendee of the Flashy awards. I don't think I'll meet much opposition when I announce that the winner is...

ADEM!!!!

A fine effort from the young fella! Well done mate, how does a "Best of the Flashys"awards CD sound as a prize?

"...if you sing to me in French"

At the time when I started composing this post I have been home from France for almost exactly one week (to the minute).

Now I am happy to be home & to regain a sense of normalcy to my life, but I am really missing a lot about Lyon.
For instance:

• CunningLinguist & ShutYourMouse
• Speaking French (even if it was a tiny amount)
• Wandering the streets in awe at how beautiful the place is (nothing, not even a lorryload of mind altering substances, could make that possible in Crapsville)
• Pretty girls in every direction
• Flying
• Feeling important (ish)
• Not having to worry about money at all
• The feeling of utter contentment I used to get just wandering around the city with my i-pod, smiling to myself.
• The Smoking Dog, The St. James' & the Indian restaurant
  
• My "Le"
  
• Etc.

I also find myself getting very defensive of the French. As always, there have been the little stereotypical jibes at the French in the paper this week. And they make me cross.

Lyon, can you hear me?
I miss you!

"It's been a long time coming, a long time coming"

(voice of stereotypical voice over bloke)
Ladies & Gentlemen, the wait is over.

The time has finally come for the award ceremony like no other, yes, this year sponsored by Angryseahorse.com who have designed the simply fab new header at the top of the page, it's THE FLASHYS!!!!
(cue rapturous applause)

Let's go out to the red carpet & see who's wearing what & looking hot!
First here is the tres stylish Mr. Mark Reed!!!















Look out, here comes one of the band members! Oops, my mistake it's Chapstick making a rare public appearance!!


















Listen up folks, the crowd are going into a frenzy! Look it's our glamourous co-host the delectable Charby & she's brought some mates with her. Is that Orlando Bloom & Sarah Michelle Gellar? Who cares it's the Charbmeister that were here to see. See how she's berating that geezer from the Daily Sport for suggesting that she "gets 'em out"! Good work missy, now go & kick him square in the nuts!!















Again the crowd are giving it up big style, this time for the "unique" look being paraded by Swiss Toni!!!



















Woah, check out this beauty! The photographers flashbulbs are going into meltdown & it's no surprise when faced with the kind of glamour & beauty that these award shows are all about.
The glamour & beauty that is ADEM!!!!!



















Not to be outdone on the glamour front, it's the lovely, the sweet, the divine...Spins!!!



















Hey up! The fella from the Daily Sport is salivating again &, let's be honest, he's not the only one! Just check out the little minx we all know as Alecya Giovanni. Oo-er missus!!



















Now, our beloved Hyde couldn't make it tonight cos she lives the high life in the big apple, but she sent along her stunt double, Ladies & Gentlemen, may I present NDN dressed up as Hyde!














And here's our host, who was telling me earlier today that he can no longer fit into his glamourous outfit due to the amount of weight he's put on in France, all together now...Who ate all the croissants?, who ate all the croissants?, etc...















Well all the guests have arrived, as they take their seats & set about the complimentary champers lets hand you over to our hosts for the night....the two & only... CHARBY & FLASH!!!!

Good evening everybody, it's a genuine pleasure to see you all here tonight almost as much as it is to be stood next to this beautiful young lady. Are you up for it Charbs?
I'm ready Flash! I can tell already its going to be a great evening! Lets hope everyone enjoys it as much as I will - even the losers!
Who couldn't enjoy an evening in our company, eh?

Ok, let's get on with the show.
I just feel the need to point something out. Although this is the Flashy awards for 2005, releases from the tail end of 2004 will also be considered as they may not have had the opportunity to impress in time for last year's awards. If you don't like it, tough. It's my show. And mine too Flash - don't forget!
Indeed, So what's up first Charby?

The first award of the night is for Best TV show- Nominees are:
Big brother
Doctor Who
The always consistant Match of the day
my surprise hit of the year Lost
and lastly Joey

Excellent, and the winner is...Lost

A richly deserved award if ever there was one. I haven't seen such an enthralling, captivating TV show in many a year. Congratulations to everyone involved with Lost, particularly Evangeline Lilly for whom I have a special prize if she'd like to collect it in person.

Our next award of the evening goes to Best Solo Artist - Despite his best efforts we managed to keep Flash from entering himself into the award!
Thanks Charbs. Last year this coveted prize went to the legend that is Morrissey but who's in the frame this year. The nominees are:
James Blunt (yeah, right)
Paul Weller
Bright Eyes *hums the Art Garfunkel tune, getting a strange look from Flash and appreciative and spontanious applause from the audience*
David Ford
Nik Kershaw (Yes, really)

Big respect going out to David Ford, who claims his second Flashy award. His album is also in the running for the best album award, so maybe he can make it 3 before the night is over.

Hey Flash?
Yes Charbs?
Can I tell you a joke?
Of course, go ahead
What have a laptop & the Premiership got in common?
Dunno
No Leeds!!!
Oh, Ha bloody ha
*Gestures to the audience who give small polite titters, where as the Americans amongst us just look bemused and whisper to each other.*

Moving on swiftly as the DOJ is giving me some VERY evil looks down there, it's now time for the Best Live act award!
As is always on this award, an award can only be given to someone I've actually seen in that time period. So the nominees are:
Coldplay
David Ford
The Kaiser chiefs
The Bluetones
Goldfrapp
Maximo park

And the winner is Coldplay!!
It was a very close call over the Kaisers but maybe seeing Coldplay twice last year swung it. Anyone who hasn't seen Coldplay live should be told that they have a much more robust sound. The begining of "Politik" is immense!
*Mimics snoring noises* Anyway lets move on swiftly or Flash will have us up all night!
Its now time for the best movie category!

Ooh this one will be tough to predict, who are the nominees then Charby?
Hehe, you can tell someone only gets to go to the cinema with young kids - We'll gloss over the fact that I've seen most of them and didnt even have the excuse of being made to watch them with The Boy!
Nominees are:
Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-rabbit
Fantastic Four.

And the winner is, au naturellement, Star Wars- Revenge of the Sith. Bloody great piece of cinema, I don't care what anyone else says.
I care! Harry Potter was robbed! Star Wars is geeky! Boo! Bad judging!
Steady on there missy!
Ok so the result of this one was leaked a while ago but we dont care do we Charbs?
*mutters about this all being a fix*
That's right! So the nominees are:
I predict a riot- Kaiser Chiefs
Speed of Sound - Coldplay
Tied up too tight - Hard-Fi
Going missing - Maximo park
Dakota - Stereophonics

And the winner is the barnstorming Dakota! A class song in every way!

Now to the award that has caused me the most pain (& thank crikey that the Artic Monkeys album didn't come out a bit earlier), the final decision has taking me literally months to come to. Two of these bands were so, so close that I very seriously thought about having joint winners. However, that's not the way of things...(looks to Charby sadly)

Awww Poor Flashy!
but they're all winners for getting this far!
Nominees include:
Kaiser Chiefs
Maximo Park
Gnu Cnu - Hmm Who put this one here? *suspicious look in Flash's direction, crowd chant Flash's name*
Hard-Fi
Editors

And the winners are....just.... Maximo Park!!! Big comiserations going out to Hard-Fi! It really was the closest of desicions that in the end came down to the number of skippers per album, despite Hard-Fi's slightly more expansive sound.

Now we come to the 2 most highly coveted awards of the evening, which one is first Charbs?
First of all we have best album, for which there are 10 nominees! and they are as follows.....
A certain trigger - Maximo Park
Playing the angel - Depeche Mode
I'm wide awake it's morning - Bright eyes
Confessions of an idiot - Gnu Cnu *glances at Flash*
X & Y - Coldplay
American Idiot - Green Day
Stars of CCTV - Hard-Fi
Get behind me Satan - The White Stripes
I sincerley apologise for all the trouble I've caused - David Ford
Elevator - Hot Hot Heat

And the winner is American Idiot by Green Day!

Yup, a most deserving award for a most deserving album, & an honourable mention to Coldplay who would've had it if the Flashys were strict on the year thing.
And the final award tonight is the Best band of 2005 award, the one they all want. Who's in the frame Charbs?

well Flash..... We have such names as
Depeche Mode
Coldplay
Hard- Fi
Hot Hot Heat
Maximo Park

the tension is nearly unbearable so please put us and them out of our misery!

The winner of the Flashy award for best band of 2005 is.....

Coldplay!!!

ooh Flash I think the DOJ has just stood up & walked out, is he just disappointed he didnt get a mention?!
Daft apeth! I would imagine it's his anti-Coldplay stance.
Still, look at Swiss & Lordy B go!

Well, that's it for this year, may I thank the lovely tidy arsed Sarf London legend who I have somehow stood next to all night without having a sly grope...the truly wonderful CHARBY!!!!!!!
(cups hand to ear in a Dave Gahan stylee to hear the crowds adulation for the Charbmeister)

And I'd just like to say thanks to Flash for letting me co-host such a presitigious award, next year though I'll be the main host and you can be relegated to award giver-outer *mwahahahaha!*
Mmmph
Right on your way out folks don't forget to place your vote for the most glamourous guest award. Of course Flash has the casting vote, but we'd like to see what you all think
Well, all that remains is to ask....
Who's ready for the aftershow PARRR_TAAAAYYY???
Yeee-haaa! Who's gonna get to that free bar first? Me or Hyde?!
And more importantly who's gonna be first for a private meeting in my dressing room???

"I want you now!"

Just a quickie that will later be deleted...
This is your final chance to send a picture of yourself looking glam for the flashy awards, come on guys there are lots of you still to attend, don't make me name names!!
I reckon you have no more than a few hours because the Flashys are finally coming.....very soon

"Anticipation has a habit you set you up for disappointment in evening entertainment but tonight there'll be some love"

Hey honeys, I'm home!

A recap is in order, I feel.
On Wednesday last week I was honoured to be invited round to CunningLinguist's place for a meal & a smoke. I had a wonderful time. I was also delighted to meet his very lovely wife, LongLostSister?, who is the first person I've ever met who shares my pride in having the ability to spot songs by hearing just the first note. We actually put our powers to the test against each other. I triumphed on 80's pop but had to bow down to her awesome knowledge of classic rock. Even without that, it was a great evening. I also very much enjoyed the rather scrummy chocolate cake that LongLostSister? prepared for us. It may have looked like asphalt but it tasted like heaven! We slowly got stoned while we chatted the night away. I was very sad that the evening went far too quickly.I hope it speaks volumes about the sort of person I am, that of all my English & American colleagues nobody else has built the sort of bond with any of the French guys that I am so very happy to have done.
I left about half past midnight & undertook the short walk back to my hotel.
As it was March 1st, I selected "The scientist" as the first song to soundtrack my saunter through the night. I had a lovely time, happily stoned & simultaneously reveling in the sweet memories that Coldplay's loveliest song bring to the fore & soaking up my surroundings in the beautiful city that I would be leaving some 36 hours later.
As I walked through the lobby of the hotel one of the staff, a very nice French lady, called out to me with a smile; "Hey! Get to bed & go to sleep!". I returned the smile with a salute & a "Yes ma'am". That little exchange just served to underline what a wonderful evening I'd had.

Due to logistic issues, Thursday became my last day at work. It was nice to say goodbye to all the guys on the plant, even if it was in utterly crap French; "Err...Demain, Je suis... err.. retour a Anglerterre (complete with the international hand signal for flying!)... errr... et non.... (another flying sign) ..err..non plus Francais...err...bon chance & au revoir". Judging by the warm handshakes & pleasant wishes I received it would seem that I managed to get the point across.

Then, of course, it was time for the big night out. I was delighted with the turn out. Including myself there were 11 of us. We started off by having a meal in my favourite restaurant, the Indian where I've become a friend of the proprietor & his sons. They said it was a very sad day because I was leaving. When I left they insisted on saying goodbye in proper French style, it was the first time that I'd taken part in the whole kissing both cheeks thing & I felt very pleased that I'd made such a favourable impression on these guys. I also felt like I'd really intergrated in with the Lyonnais, which was bon!
Here's the gang from the Indian:
Left side, foreground to background: FunnyYankeeRobotGuy, AnotherForestFool, Merciless, NewFemme.
Right side; BatleyBruiser, Some dodgy bloke who looks awful in all these pictures because he's put soooo much weight on due to eating out & drinking beer almost every night for 3 and a half months, UpTheFoxes, ShutYourMouse & Boss.





My Indian cuisine buddys.












After many a beer & a scrummy feed we mosied down Le Rue de Saint Jean a few yards till we descended en masse upon the St. James' pub. Here we were joined by CunningLinguist & NorfolkChad.
As you would expect the beer (& then the vodka & cranberries) flowed freely & a great laugh was had by all.
















It was 10 by the time we hit the pub, so it came as no surprise when some people started drifting off. Merciless & Boss were the first to slip away, the rest stayed past midnight. By half 12 though we were down to 5. Myself & AnotherForestFool (who has gone out to Lyon to replace me) & the 3 French folk. The 5 of us stayed until chucking out time at 2 am.
Then we couldn't get a taxi to take 5 of us so we walked. NewFemme lives very close to the old internet place I used to use when I first arrived. Then with much joking & general tomfoolery the remaining 4 guys wandered back to the hotel, where ShutYourMouse was put in a taxi for his journey out to the suburbs, after some hugs & a fond farewell. CunningLinguist & AnotherForestFool came up to my room where we had a quick spliff. Then I said my goodbyes to CunningLinguist who went back to his nearby flat. And that was that.
By crikey, I felt like shite on Friday morning, I tell thee.

After a delayed flight, I finally arrived home at 3pm.
Since then I've just been getting my head round the fact that I'm not going back to France after the weekend. Nor am I going to work. I've booked a week off so I can get my head round the horrible prospect of going back to the mindnumbing dullness of my day to day routine back in the lab. I am absolutely dreading it.
I've also sorted my broadband out, so I'm gonna be properly back in Blogland now (not to mention getting hold of lots & lots of new tunes).

A little while ago I told you that I had done something that I had always wanted to do but had never gotten round to doing. I also offered readers the opportunity to guess what this thing was. Only the lovely devoted Spins offered a guess (which was wrong, though she did later get it right in an e-mail), so time to reveal all: With this picture of the top of my left arm.

What do you think?
I'm well happy with it.










Right, I'm off do get a cushion for this chair so I can comfortably sit here for hours while I catch up on the blogs that I have had to neglect.
See you at yours in a bit, ok?

"All I need is a certain trigger"

Greetings all!
This is Charby (shameless plug!) doing a little favour for everyone's number one superhero Flash!
Earlier today he asked me if I could post on his blog the following message!

It's March the first today. Long term readers (if there are any left) will know that it's a very significant day for me.
This year it somehow feels different. Instead of lamenting all the could haves and should haves, I find myself quietly and fondly remembering the best day of my life.
C'est bon, tres bon