Sunday 31 May 2009

update from the city gardenner

Align RightYou must all think how random this blog is! donaldamerica loves blogging bout his music whereas I'm not so in the music scene which leaves me blogging bout our everyday lives. This blog is more for me to keep track of my plants progress that anything else so bare with me.



Anyway i thought, with the trees going green and the flowers blooming outside, it is time to provide an update on my newbie garden. photos are taken and here goes:



this is my indoor spring onion (white lisbon) and indoor lettuce (butterhead variety) which is doing really well in comparison to my outdoor variety:






I didnt manage to zoom in very well as it was really sunny today and i couldnt quite see what i was doing in the garden. these white lisbons were sowed roughly a month before i sowed my indoor ones and they are not doing half as well. still pretty good tho i have lost a few to the recent heatwave in england.




And this was sowed exactly the same time as my indoor lettuce. I planted 3 outside and the cat dug up 2 so now i'm nurturing this one hoping the cat pest will soon have somewhere else to play. i'm so gutted tho cos the cat killed 2 of my biggest juiciest lettuce i owned :(


On to other plants now. Heading back indoors I have my sweet pepper (sweet colour spectrum)





Doesnt she look beautiful? I'm hosting a naming ceremony soon to keep track of each individual plant. All the sweet pepper ones will be named beginning with a S and the chilies will be everything but. As you can see, the sweer peppers have started to flower which means new, bigger pots with need to be purchased! how exciting!





Say cheese babies!! this is my collection of sweet peppers and chilies!! You can telll the difference (sorta) by looking at leaf size and the buds that are about to flower. Sweet pepper buds are much much bigger and chili buds tend to droop down.



Now moving outdoor we have my tomato plants (100s and millions i believe it's called) I've grown cherry tomatos now for 3 years ( i hate big tomatos) and this is the first time I've grown this variety. Boy do they have many buds!! I have never seen anything like it before!





My cucumber plants (marketmore) is doing really well for itself. Tho since I'm such a newbie I don't know if they are climbers so I gave them some netting just in case for support. If anyone happens to read this blog that is a pro at gardenning please drop a comment and tell me more!




A close up of the cucumber plant shows promising flowers! meaning lil cucumbers are developing, yay! I actually have a pictue of a lil baby cucumber but it's just too much effort



my pea plants (kevin wonderer) I've used pea sticks then added netting for additional support as I didnt anticipate it to grow as tall as it did! I've been sowing more and more each week so that i can have more peas later in the season. I've counted 13 pea pods as of yday which I am very pleased about.



Here is a close up of my pea pods


and last but not least is my sweetcorn


They are getting bigger and bigger but the bottom leaves are turning yellow :( from my recent visit to bermuda and observing their sweetcorn plants there I know this is not normal but i dunno what to do about it so i think i might just sit it out

This has taken me an hour so i hope u enjoyed an insight into my gardenning life. makes a change from all the music talk doesn't it?











Wednesday 27 May 2009

A real coincidence.


Literally, straight after I posted the Hawaiian Sophie video, I went over to Kanye's website and found this DJ Premier Jay-Z remix/mashup whatever.
http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/?em3106=232988_-1__0_~0_-1_5_2008_0_0&em3161=&em3281=
Seeing as I still cant post links for some reason. If you want to hear it you'll have to copy and paste it into your browser.
It's just an accapella off American Gangster laid over a new beat. But it sounds cool and as there's nothing the new, it'll have to do.

Rainy Daze (Get it?)

This Sunday gone was a scorcher. Sitting in my back garden not even moving proved occasionally difficult. And, someone pesimistically says; "It's not Summer yet, this weather is a trick. Next week it'll piss it down." This is the weather today. Grey, wet, windy, cold.
So, while SkyHigh is away in Bermuda sunning herself silly, I'm taking the opportunity to upadate here.

Firstly, a long while ago, I stated that I would be posting everything new from Jay-Z that came out. Since then, nothing has come out. No leaks, no features, no remixes, nothing. So, I've decided to post Jay's first ever screen appearance from 20 year ago now. This is a very young Hove in the video for Jaz-O's (Jiggas early mentor) Hawaiian Sophie.This video amazes me every time. Just how young the man is, the cheapness of the set, the clothes, the real amature performances and the fact that Jay is so slept on.
It's also good for today considering the weather outside. This is somewhat brighter.

Monday 18 May 2009

The Punisher in the pool.

Clip of Big Pun in the pool with his family. How can someone that size flow so damn good?! Makes no sense!
R.I.P

Sunday 17 May 2009

Great Escape 2009 - Day3 - It's Too Late, Too Late, Too Late, Too Late...

Saturday began late as the Tales team woke up mid-afternoon and very slowly got going. And what started off quite badly turned into the best festival day yet.
Got a text informing of a 'secret' Babyshambles show, so went down to the Levi's store to get tickets. Sold Out. So went over to the Queens Hotel for free beers and sushi. Finished. So far, so shite.
But, turned out we would be able to see Babyshambles from the street as their show wa outdoors. So we went over and after an hour wait witnessed an awesome (but short) set from Pete Doherty and his crew.
While waiting we were treated to seeing a waster get chucked out the side door of Above Audio, obviously fucked on a cocktail of drugs. But, this wasn't the worlds most famous crack addict - Pete was on good behaviour - but a random hanger on who drifted off soon enough. Oh dear. What would his mother think?
Here's a video of the band playing their Killamanjiro hit:

And, a photo of Pete doing his job. The gig was very entertaining and sounded great. It was fun watching buses driving by full of old people peering out trying to work out what was going on, and all the people leaning out of windows, balconys and bars to watch the band.

Stopped off at HQ for a bite and to get some warm clothes as the clouds were rolling in. Then we went by Hector's House, saw The Gay Blades and drank a few Carlings.Couldn't decide if they were any good or not. But they were interesting to watch and SkyHigh gave the lead singer a few classic heckles from a couple of rows back.

Then we went into town to Audio and bumped into Simone who had got himself into a bit of trouble after pretending to be Sky Larkin and losing far too many drinking games. We were like guiding angles and saved him from a gang of police who were planning on putting him in a cell for the night. Unfortunately, he had lost his drivers license the night before and now his wristband was gone: his weekend was over. We said farewell, hoped for the best and stepped into Audio to catch the end of a set from Hockey.
After the show we downed a few absinths and went to Coalition. The festival was winding down but Coalition had gigs till 2am. First off was Tucker - another Japanese. He was rubbish, but he set his keyboard on fire which was preety awesome!Next was a band called Heartbreak.They sung songs about doner meat and meal deals but we'd had a few more absinths by then to care much about anything.
To finish the festival was a biggy: Mr Hudson (no library). I wanted to see him due to the attention he got at last years Glastonbury from Jay-Z and because he signed to Kanye West's record label and has a single featuring him. No sign of Kanye sadly but I was happy to have G.O.O.D music in the building!He played a great set and then came back for more. I predict big things for this man.
After the show we went back stage to chat to the guy. He was cool and SkyHigh snatched a cheeky photo:
With the festival ended we grabbed some beers and went boating, then slowly made our way home, drunk and happy. We had become giants in Brighton and found time for a spot of late night gardening.

The Great Escape festival was mighty fun. We saw some amazing new music, partied hard and gave our livers a good work out. Can't wait for next year!

Great Escape 2009 - Day2 - Bonkers

Didn't have time yesterday to update about Friday's Great Escape events, so today I have a bit of an epiq blogging session ahead of me with 2 days of gigs, bands, and funny happenings to write about. Settle in comfortably because these might get rather lenghty:

So Friday afternoon. The Tales' Japan connect Megumi tipped us off about several Japanese acts to catch over the weekend so braved the wind and rain and made it to the end of the pier to see Riddim Saunter.They really brought some Tokyo sunshine and energy and gave us some much needed warmth after the bad weather on the way to Horatio's. Dudes were jumping all over the place and gave a frantic show. I'm sure these guys pack out Tokyo clubs with kids going nuts to their ska/pop sound. Unfortunatly, the crowd were a little subdued and thin on the feet but it didn't seem to bother the musicians.
Grabbed the drummer Tachi for a quick Shashin. Dunno, how much English he spoke but I told him to look out for Megumi when he plays Shinsaibashi, Osaka next month.

Stayed at Horatio's and drank while the nordic Harry's Gym played a boring set which we hardly looked at.We left for Komedia after their set, via a spin on the tea-cups to celebrate the end of the rain.And, took this photo of Brighton from the pier. We live in a beautiful city.
Got over to Komedia to see Big Pink who are hottly tipped to be the next big band on the way up. But, of course, everyone else had the same idea. So we got stuck in a nightmare queue outside the venue which we stood in while the band played.
What really pissed me off was all the arsey press/arists/blag artists jumping ahead of us, talking shit to get in the place and giving agro to those patiently waiting and to the bouncers. The fuckers don't pay for their tickets, get ahead of the real people and don't make for a good show - too busy judging/posing/complaining to enjoy/dance/cheer like the rest of us.
Sigh.
Anyway, got in after Big Pink finished their set, and watched Holy Fuck play instead.They were a really energetic dance group, with so many keyboards and a really odd machine through which one member pulled a tape that looked like camera film and made spaced out noises.

Then we went up to The Hope and spotting Nikki from BigBrother 6 leaving. The Hope was so hot and the beer so expensive! And the band - Let's Wrestle - were doing shit cover versions of Nirvana and Black Sabbath for no reason. He didn't know any of the words so just slurred the rythm tonelessly. Shite.
We bumped into the Race Horses though, and Simone showed them a photo of him sitting on a horse.Let's Wrestle.

Gigs ended and clubs started. We went to Digital for a bit and then to the Corn Exchange where Holy Fuck were DJing. On the way we were distracted by a digger and got this photo with a bunch of Spaniards: Weird isn't it.
Got to the Corn Exchange and had a dance, chatted with the guys from Holy Fuck and then went to Ocean Rooms and then to the Druids.
Simone with the singer from Holy Fuck.
Stay tuned for part 3.

Friday 15 May 2009

Great Escape 2009 - Day1 - Lying in My Bed Looking at the Clouds



Last night was the first night of Brighton's Great Escape festival - tipped as UKs version of SXSW. And, it started well and turned into some real carnage! Below is my account (prepare for quite a lengthy post) of day 1:

In the beginning we went up to catch Nulifer at the Freebutt but got distracted my cheap beer on the way and missed the show. So we caught the end of a set by a band called Calories at Hector's House. The phrase volume over talent came to my head. But, they weren't bad it was just too early for this level of noise and anger so we slipped to the back for more booze. When this show finished we wandered over to Ocean Rooms because there was 2 bands playing: I Was A King (slit your wrists music) and Hoodlums:

I thought they were alright until they announced a song called "The Sadness of My Manhood". We quickly left.

While we were there, I snapped a photo of this sign which I really liked:

Escaping outside we discovered it was raining. Not good for standing in queues. Bit of a mission (via. Burger King - £1.99 for a cheeseburger, fries and coke!!) to Horatio's on the end of the pier to see Race Horses. And we grabbed ourselves a bargain jug of Kronenberg to make the Welsh indie music sound better!

Race Horses. Not a bad sound but the crowd were rubbish- I hate indie posers and shoe gazers - Simone lightened things up though with some stumbles and comedy glasses.

I think Sanj Sanj enjoyed the beer more than anything else.
The show finished so we left for Komedia. And the rain had stopped! We were happy so we tooke some happy photos!

Got to Komedia and saw the Speed Bumps (read: Rumble Strips). They were awesome and the crowd were really loving it- bit of crowd surfing, small mosh pit and a one man stage invasion. This was the indie sweat I'd been waiting for!

We had an awesome time and came out soaked and smiling. Some of the crowd worried us a little however, seemed they had gotten a little carried away:

Then we went to Coalition to catch the human beatbox Killa Kela. He was entertaining but since I'd last seen him he has changed. Seem's he's discovered cake, butt plugs and Take That 'cause he looked and acted like a fatter gayer version of Robbie Williams.

Still, he's got skills.
Waiting for the next act I got chatting to 88kidz member and realised I can't speak Japanese anymore. He told me that he liked England but the food was shit and the weather was cloudy. Probably gonna try and catch his band when they play tonight.

So gigs turned inot clubs and clubs turned into chips and chips turned into stumbling back up the hill to the tales HQ.
And we saw two snails fucking!

Saturday 9 May 2009

Chocolate chip and mange on a waffle cone please!




Today started off with rain and generally meh-ness. But by 1pm it had all cleared and considering we now have very rare days together we made the most of it by making a trip to our favorite italian ice cream man on the seafront. It's almost a whole hour away from where we live but we walked along the seafront and took in the view.





As you can see the sea was very unsettled and the wide was going crazy. We counted 9 kite surfers doing their thing which was pretty cool. Wish I have a cool hobby like that. Also made me miss our kite. We somehow lost two of the sticks holding it together so we've said byebye to it for now. oh, and then the fisheye camera came out to play!






also stopped by zara to try on maxi dresses. Didnt like them on me tho.






It looked weird on me. But hey ho, then we soldiered on to mr italian ice cream man.












It was very windy and hurt my ears from the strong strong winds but it was well worth it when we got there









Took ages deciding whether we want sundaes, milkshakes or just plain old ice cream. finally settled on 2 scoops on a waffle cone but then had to choose flavours!! Every time we go there I think to myself I shouldn't get chocolate chip but everytime I see it I want it. They had flavours like spicy chocolate, pistaccio, bubblegum (taste like just the real thing!), orange chocolate etc etc. I went for the chocolate and mango and he got a banana with strawberry swirl and chocolate.