Hello World

Oh dear, once again my resolution to blog more has been hijacked by life. It’s been a real whirl since I last posted: concerts, parties, farewells, fun times, job losses, lottery wins ….

Okay, actually that last one isn’t true, but I have been a busy beaver recently. I don’t really want to dwell on the second to last item, which I was rather unhappy about  when I found out (a slight understatement), but have pretty much got over now, so let’s concentrate on the more fun stuff instead!

Saturday 24 September was the six month anniversary of my dad’s death. I had brought some of his ashes back to England with the intention of scattering them in the Thames, as he’d wanted, having previously worked as a Thames Lighterman, but it had never seemed quite the right time. As the six months drew nearer, however, it really was time to say goodbye.

Mrs H3 and I took a journey on the Thames Clipper with a view to inconspicuously scattering the ashes as we made our way down the Thames. However, the boat was considerably busier than we’d expected and it was impossible to even get near the side of the boat, let alone empty the ashes without being seen and to add to the stress we were both feeling a little seasick. We therefore sailed to Embankment and walked down to Cleopatra’s Needle, which is a nice spot, and after a few minutes of contemplation and remembrance, added his ashes to the water there. The journey back was on a catamaran rather than a boat and was much better seasickness-wise and, of course, was much quieter (sod’s law) and we could easily have scattered the ashes in the wake. I would love to go on a catamaran at full speed down the Thames without it having to stop every few minutes at the various piers as it would be brilliant fun.

We have been to a few concerts recently, although sadly not I Am Kloot, as astonishingly, they seem to be taking a break from touring. I can only assume this is because Johnny’s girlfriend isn’t happy with him being on the road all the time, as he used to play solo gigs in-between the IAK ones and was therefore touring constantly all year. Hopefully it won’t be too long before they’re back down South, maybe even with a new album (she says hopefully).

Gary Numan played an absolute blinder of a concert (and that’s not just me being biased, honestly). He also made the error of having a decent support act for the first time since the 1980s – a guy called Jayce Lewis (check him out) which meant that instead of being able to get a seat, which we normally manage with no problem as everyone stays in the bar until Gary takes to the stage, the place was packed for the support and we ended up having to stand all night, which was not fun for my poor old arthritic feet.

Pete Doherty was, I have to admit, a real disappointment for us. Having seen him several times over the years we’ve seen the highs and lows that he’s capable of, but this concert – his last for a long time (his words), was absolutely diabolical. Pete has made no secret of the fact that he’s had problems coming to terms with Amy Winehouse’s death and sadly it really showed at Brixton, where once he had come onstage he seemed determined not to stop playing for anything. There were no breaks between the songs, his usual quite skilful guitar playing was a shambles and he spent a good deal of time dedicating songs to Amy and another friend of his who had died recently. His singing, usually a high point, even when he’s been stoned out of his skull, was average at best and below par for most of it. It was sad to see him in such a state and can only agree with his assessment that he needs to go away and sort himself out.

And so onto the Bluetones, who played a wonderful set at Shepherds Bush. I was pleased to see such a good turnout for their final show and Mrs H3 and I both thoroughly enjoyed it, despite Mrs H3 not knowing a single one of their songs, not even their hits. I have to say that part of me was pleased that whilst they were entertaining they weren’t totally fabulous to the extent that I regretted not having been to see them during their previous seventeen years of touring, but I am glad we went to see them at the end.

Marc Almond at Tunbridge Wells Assembly Halls was a much quieter evening and one for which we were late (as we always seem to be for his shows). This was partially due to bad timing advice from Mrs H3’s dad and her dodgy Garmin sat nav, which has a mind of its own and is not always very helpful. Every time we’ve seen Marc he’s always been different and this time was no exception. The first half was mainly him sitting on a stool, with a pianist and a harpist for accompaniment, wearing a pair of grey trousers and a black velvet jacket. It was torch song heaven, surrounded by an amazing amount of table lamps and he made us laugh a couple of times when he cranked up the dry ice and turned the lights way down low as it reminded us of Echo and the Bunnymen, although we could still see Marc as he sang.

The second half was slightly more upbeat, and included a dress change from Marc, into jeans and black leather jacket and his band who were wearing grey suits with Hawaiian shirts. What impressed me most were some of the unusual cover versions he performed, beginning with David Bowie’s ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’, continuing with Syd Barrett’s ‘Terrapin’ and ending with Lou Reed’s ‘The Bed’ – which he amazingly managed to make sound like a half decent song (I’ve always thought this to be one of the most depressing songs ever written and always had a problem listening to the original).

I had a little detour last week, without my partner-in-crime as she was busy elsewhere, to see Rockin’ Republic, a local covers band containing an old friend of mine at a nearby pub. It gave me a chance to catch up with some old friends that I haven’t seen for ages and was a pretty good evening and certainly made a change from sitting in on a Saturday night.

So this takes us to last night and our annual trip to see Alice Cooper at Alexandra Palace, with his Halloween Night of Fear. As always he and his band provided a good show, although it was slightly less theatrical than in previous years and there was a lot of guitar work, I guess due to the fact that he had three guitarists including Lou Reed. However, the snake, dead Ethel and the guillotine were all in attendance as well as a giant Frankenstein’s monster version of Alice. This year there were a lot more people dressed up, as were we, Mrs H3 as a corpse bride and me as a witch with a fabulous feathery bright red hat. There was also a late surprise during the encore, when Arthur Brown appeared onstage to sing his hit ‘Fire’ whilst wearing that famous flaming headdress.  Unfortunately, as ever, we arrived late and missed the support which was the New York Dolls, who I would have liked to have seen, but it also had the added benefit of having missed the freaks who stab themselves and stuff, that Alice so likes to pepper his shows with. All in all another brilliant evening – and in fancy dress too, which always cheers me up.

Tomorrow night is another fancy dress party at the Beacon Court in Gillingham where there will be some live bands and on Thursday we are going to see Blue October, which I’m really excited about as it’s been a long time since they were last in the UK. We’re also having a bonfire party at Mrs H3’s house on Friday, where they are going to let us set fire to things (mad people). Later in the month we’re going to a Labyrinth masquerade ball at the Prince Charles Cinema, where we get to dress up again and wear masks, before spending the evening enjoying David Bowie’s incredibly tight trousers.

Oh, and while I remember, this week saw David Hasselhoff announce a tour of the UK in March next year and of course we have tickets for his date at IndigO2. Unfortunately, we were a little too late for the V.I.P. meet and greet option, but we’ve still got prime seats. Excited? Me not so much, but Mrs H3 certainly is and that’s all that matters.

Of course, it’s also that time of the year again. I mean of course NaNoWriMo, that annual torture where I try to force myself to write 50,000 words of a story and generally fail abysmally – although last year I did manage it, but only by writing fan fiction rather than an original story. This year I’m going into it completely blind, with absolutely no plot, no characters and not even any idea, at this stage, of what type of story I’m going to write. Yep, sounds to me like a cause for failure again too, but I’m not going to let it put me off. So, once more into the breach dear friends!