Moaning Minnie (David).

Yet again, I've frazzled my brain with admin, rather than focusing on the things I'd rather prioritise on.

This always seems to be the case. Tonight, I've written press releases for the next few Mostly Comedys (I never know how to pluralise this) and pulled together a mailout to be sent to our mailing list in the morning. I wanted to get this out at the weekend, knowing it would increase sales for this week's show and raise awareness of the next few dates, but life got in the way. I long for the time when I'm not chasing my tail (in a metaphorical sense, as I'm essentially tail-less).

This happened at the expense of the two things I wanted to do this evening, which were (1) apply for the BBC New Comedy Competition (for which the deadline is midnight tonight) and (2) watch The X-Files with my wife (our current brain switch-off of choice). Predictably, neither happened. Bloody bastard bloody linear time.

Thankfully the whole day wasn't like this. This morning, my friend Rob drove to Hitchin to meet me for a coffee and a catch-up. I was looking forward to this all weekend, as it was the one pressure-free thing in my diary. It's always good to see him and we always have a laugh. He's a good chap, is Rob. Hopefully we'll meet up more often. This paragraph is about to fizzle out, but that's allowed. I make the rules here, right?

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...

'...I'm Gonna Look at You 'til My Eyes Go Blind."

Over the past week or two, I’ve been on a bit of a Sheryl Crow kick, largely thanks to rediscovering her cover of one of my most-liked Bob Dylan songs. She has one of my favourite female voices, yet despite this, I only own one CD and that’s just a single (her '97 release ‘Hard to Make a Stand’); on that basis, you can only imagine how much of her back catalogue I’d own if I hated her (it would fall into minus-figures). Dylan, conversely, takes up more of my collection than anyone else, save The Beatles and Paul McCartney’s solo work. He’s one of those artists who, when you get him, you really get him - and once I’d tuned into his style as a student, I'd time and again be blown away by his lyrics; he’ll have more jaw-dropping imagery in one track than other people fit in a whole career. These days, I mostly listen to music in the morning when getting ready, and more often than not, this will consist of a suggested YouTube playlist when I’m in the bath, r...

Stevenage: A (Tiny) River Runs Through it.

If ever a river was mis-sold, it’s the Roaring Meg in Stevenage. I just walked past it on my way to the retail park that has taken its name. They’re similarly uninspiring. The river is less of a roar and more of a dribble; cystitis sufferers produce greater flow. The retail park is soulless. What was once a thriving enterprise is nearly devoid of atmosphere, save an underlying essence of emptiness and despair. With a Toys R Us. When it was first built I was excited. Back then, the thought of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a Harvester and a Blockbuster Video within a small surface area was enticing. I celebrated many birthdays on site. There was an indoor cricket pitch there for a while where I once had a joint party with a friend. Why someone with an almost pathological fear of sport would agree to such a venture is beyond me, but I did it. Now, there’s very little at the Roaring Meg of note. The river would be a metaphor for the shopping ce...

mostly david ephgrave

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