Bisch Basch Bosch...

Ooh hello. Amaury Bischoff has joined Arsenal.

Robot Air Hockey...

What next? Why, a robot playing air hockey, of course.

iPhone 3G...

My iPhone 3G turned up today so I'm playing with it at the moment. It's a bit bigger than I thought it'd be but a nice size all the same.

Update: I'm getting used to it now. Activesync working OK to got work email, calendar and contacts. Home email syncing too. Web browsing is fairly easy. YouTube is Okish. Maddeningly there's no copy/paste function though. Battery life (as with all mobile devices) is not ideal either. But it looks cool and the software is pretty easy to use. Being a techie I'd like to be able to tweak more but no doubt I'll find those 'hidden' settings soon enough.

Electric Picnic Line-up...

Stu and I are off to the Electric Picnic soon. Here's the current line-up:

Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Rós, Goldfrapp, Wilco, Underworld, Sex Pistols, The Roots, The Faint, My Bloody Valentine, Sinéad O'Connor, Elbow, The Gossip, The Herbaliser, Tiga, CSS, The Kills, Gomez, Cut Copy, Digitalism, New Young Pony Club, Cansei de Ser Sexy, Turin Brakes, The Breeders, Duffy, Chromeo, The Presets, Foals, Crystal Castles, Booka Shade, Josh Ritter, Tindersticks, Santogold, Hadouken!, The Waterboys, Grace Jones, Grinderman, Midnight Juggernauts, Teitur, Michael Franti & Spearhead, The Constantines, Faust, Candi Staton, Hercules and Love Affair, Noisettes, Joan as Police Woman, Juana Molina, Black Lips, Dan Deacon, Tinariwen, Gemma Hayes, Micah P. Hinson, Deadmau5, Silver Apples, Blitzen Trapper, Christy Moore, Hayseed Dixie, Emmy the Great, Lou Rhodes, A-Trak, Dawn Landes, Balanescu Quartet, YACHT, Kíla, School of Language, Jape, Conor Oberst, That Petrol Emotion, Joan As Policewoman, Pivot, Tartit, Cathy Davey, Absentee, Lisa Hannigan, Tobias Froberg, Carbon/Silicon, Ham Sandwich, Mark Geary, The Count & Sinden, Adrian Crowley, super extra bonus party, Dublin Gospel Choir, Lionheart Brothers, The Flaws, George Clinton & the P-funk AllStars, Kormac, Boss Volenti, captain moonlight, Large Mound, Neema, Martelo, One Day International, The Yard Dogs and Henry Rollings.

Party, Party...

On Saturday Stuart, Emma and Carolina had a house-warming/belated birthday/summer barbeque in Bermondsey. Great fun. It finished at 10 o'clock. 10 o'clock Sunday morning that is.


At about 9pm we went to Andrew and Tim's house-warming down in Brockley. Also great fun.


More pix here.

Update: John Barrowman: The Making of Me...

Actually the John Barrowman TV programme last night was quite good. Who knew he had such a strong Scottish accent? They were basically looking at what makes someone gay. The usual nature vs nurture stuff. Some of the research scientists were cute. The conclusion was that it seems to be that it's nature and not nurture, there's no gay gene been found yet but that it's probably the amount of testosterone that the mother releases in the womb that affects later siblings sexuality. So that's sorted then.

Next week it's Colin Jackson's turn to be examined. I know what you're thinking but it's his sporting prowess that's being investigated not his sexuality.

Performance Listings for Duckie...

Here are the upcoming performance listings for Duckie.

26 July - Ursula Martinez / Rasp Thorne
2 Aug - DGD*: Lucille Power / Tetraflap
9 Aug - DGD*: Stella Plumes
16 Aug - DGD*: Lambchop Magoo / Amy G
23 Aug - DGD*: Helenka
30 Aug - DGD*: Adams & Rea
6 Sept - Bearlesque / Jessica Delfino
13 Sept - Slippery Fish / Tortoise Shout
20 Sept - Dickie Beau
27 Sept - Chris Lynam
4 Oct - Buggarchops
11 Oct - Scottee
18 Oct - Jonny Woo
25 Oct - Luci Briginshaw / Richard Dedomenici
1 Nov - Villian / Bourgeois and Maurice
8 Nov - Des O’Connor
15 Nov - Paul L. Martin
22 Nov - Probe

*Duckie Goes Dykey
In August all birds get in to our disco for £3.99. All profits to Wages Due Lesbians. Chicks only on stage.

John Barrowman: The Making of Me...

Oh good. More John Barrowman on TV tonight. No doubt I'll watch it though. Hadrian looks interesting too.

Chaka Khan...

Last night Darren, Stu and I went to see Chaka Khan at the IndigO2.

Chaka Khan is as mad as a box of frogs but has a great voice and packs a punch on stage. I actually enjoyed it way more than I thought I would - in no small part due to the excellent seats Darren had secured for us.

Dismissing I Feel For You and Ain’t Nobody as the two opening numbers we weren't quite sure where she was going next but she wowed us with a ninety minute set of new stuff and classics. Great voice and great show.

There was some criticism later that she sings along to her songs rather than actually sings them - but, hey, that's what see does. And she does it really well!

The full set list was:
Once You Get Started (instrumental by the band), I Feel For You, Ain’t Nobody, Stay, Do You Love What You Feel, Whatchu Gonna Do For Me, You’ve Got The Love, One For All Time, Hollywood, Tell Me Something Good, Sweet Thing, Angel, Please Pardon Me, Through The Fire, What’s Going On and two encores, I'm Every Woman and Stop On By.

Picture It. Sicily, 1923...

Estelle Getty (Sophia from The Golden Girls) sadly has died. Shame. The Golden Girls was one of my favourite shows, was must-see viewing at it's peak and introduced me to the equally fabulous Maude.
[Thanks Darren]

Batman and the Plague Of Flying Ants...

Batman has been arrested by the police and there was a plague of flying ants in London today. The world is turned upsidedown.

Can you walk on custard?...

Of course you can (if it's not too runny that is). Custard is a non-Newtonian fluid.

Down and out in Paris...

Paris was fun. For sightseeing we went to some of Stu hotspots to see; Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame and did a Grande Tour on the open-top bus.

On Friday evening we did some of the early evening gay bars and ended up in the Bears' Den (dodgy stairwell 'n'all).

Unfortunately Stu fell ill on the Saturday with an upset tummy so we spent much of the day in our hotel room. I'm happy to take any questions about French Big Brother variant Secret Story at this point. More pix here.

Paris...

Stu and I are off on the Eurostar to Paris this morning for three days. A belated birthday present for my beloved. The plan is to take Stu to his favourite places in Paris, take in a few new sights he's not been to before and perhaps indulge in a spot of schmoozing avec les parisiennes.

Top 10 Dance Records...

Top 10 Dance Records as voted by the listeners to BBC Radio 2.
1. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson (1983)
2. I Feel Love - Donna Summer (1977)
3. Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine - James Brown (1970)
4. Strings Of Life - Rhythim Is Rhythim (1987)
5. Where Love Lives - Alison Limerick (1994)
6. Keep On Movin' - Soul II Soul (1989)
7. Can You Feel It - Fingers Inc. (1988)
8. Big Fun - Inner City (1988)
9. Theme From S'Express - S'Express (1988)
10. Key To My Happiness - The Charades (1966)

Print Free Day...

It's a print free day today in the office. No printing, no photocopying. Transgressors have to put money in the charity box.

Ladies and Gentlemen... Miss Grace Jones

Latest acts just announced for the Electric Picnic: Grace Jones, Joan as Policewoman, Dan Deacon, Booka Shade, Deadmau5. Yay!

Arsenal defend season ticket hike...

Hmmm.

Prayers for Bobby...

I don't know if you've read Prayers for Bobby: A Mother's Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son. It's a very powerful and life affirming book. It draws on the diaries of Bobby Griffith, a gay youth who committed suicide, and traces his mother's struggle to face her son's sexuality. She was a devout Christian, as was he, and they believed he could be cured through the power of prayer. Sadly that was not what happened and after much self-examination she has since become a vocal gay-rights advocate. It's also being made into a film with Sigourney Weaver

Kath and Kim US...

Kath and Kim American version commercial. God, it looks awful.