2011 - A Year, For Me, Of Musical Plenty

Greetings!  And a happy 2012 to you.  I hope this year builds upon the last, unless 2011 was hard going, in which case, I hope 2012 is a turning point and a positive one, at that.

My 2011 was largely positive.  Strewn with the occasional low point, but then it would be unrealistic of anyone to deny that they occur to them, too.  I have done plenty that's made me faintly proud, and weathered the storms in a relatively upbeat manner.  One of the things I've loved about the last year has been the music.  Not just me writing songs & getting to play them on a handful of stages, or recording them, or talking to you on YouTube, but also the music that people have released, which has hit me in the heart & buried itself there.  There has been a lot with which I have fallen in love, and it's as if all my favourite musicians have clubbed together & vowed to release music this year.  I would like to take a moment to share with you some of the music & events that have lit 2011 up for me.


So here we are, in chronological order, with videos where appropriate.

January

I was contacted by Paul, a friend of mine, who'd pointed a local radio station my way, as they were in need of someone to do an acoustic session on their music programme.  Only six months previously, I had dipped my toes back into the music scene, having taken a long break.  I accepted and, in the run-up to the broadcast, set up a music page on Facebook, uploaded a handful of old mp3s, and set about making myself look like I meant business.

The interview was a revelation, largely because it had been a very long time since I had talked about why I write and perform, or any of the processes involved, and I was thrilled & excited to be on and airing some new songs & an oldie.  I left the radio station with renewed vigour & a fire re-lit in the pit of my stomach.

Shortly after this, I supported Seers (again, pointed my way by my friend Paul) in The Black Swan in Leek, and after a jolly gig - in which one of the blokes at the bar told me that "Imagine If We Fell In Love" was a beautiful song, but when I sing with my eyes shut, I look like Beaker from The Muppet Show - I managed to make the evening more memorable by missing the last bus out of Leek & having the charge in my phone battery run out, resulting in a long walk at 1.00am, until I staggered into a local casino, the receptionist of which allowed me to call  a friend who had been checking I was ok til my phone died.  What an adventure!

A week or two after this, The Decemberists released 'The King Is Dead'.  Their previous album, 'The Hazards Of Love' had been a long, complex rock-opera, and 'The King Is Dead' was a return to relative simplicity.  A marvellous album, brief, sweet & stomping by turns.

February

One of the bigger influences upon my music, and how I approach writing and recording is Bright Eyes.  Introduced to me by my best friend Mike, listening to Bright Eyes was revelatory.  The expression of the deeper, darker emotions has always been as important as the good and the hopeful, and any music deemed to be depressing is never truly that, because in the midst of it all, the song has a core of optimism, that things will be better.  And Bright Eyes released 'The People's Key', which got better with each consecutive listen, as a running thread of Denny Brewer (who had produced an album with Bright Eyes' singer & songwriter Conor Oberst previously, and who has some odd and also genuinely nice views on the world) talking about the beginnings of life and how to continue.

Also released was Lykke Li's 'Wounded Rhymes'.  An odd yet gloriously atmospheric album, with varying styles of song, although all songs have an reverb which give them a slightly distant/bleak feel.  Again, recommended by Mike.

My friend Matt Tyrer has always wanted to group a bunch of people together to perform 'The Mariner's Revenge' by The Decemberists, and this month he, Ed Moseley, Romas Masteika (all three are from Dead Radio Society), Dan Elphick, Victoria Bailey and I did just that.  We learned 'Rox In The Box' from 'The King Is Dead', and also one of my songs and one of Dead Radio Society's songs, and called ourselves 'Misanthropic Bell-Ringers Anonymous'.  It was fun!

My nephew was born in February, and all of a sudden my little sister has a son.  He's a lovely little boy and it continues to surprise me how much he grows when I see him.

March

In early March, Matt Tyrer, Ed Moseley and I went to the HMV Institute in Birmingham, to see The Decemberists on their tour for 'The King Is Dead'.  A great show with humour and bazukis.  They also rounded the night off with 'The Mariner's Revenge', and the three of us watched with interest & couldn't help but compare notes to how we had done it a couple of weeks previously.  And I sang my harmony line.


(I realise this isn't a video from the show we went to, but I couldn't find one)

March is also the month I set up my Twitter account.  I had resisted this up to now, but was finally feeling like I was missing something - a way to point a broader audience to the music I make.  I was right, more people listen to my songs now than they ever did two years ago, and more than that - something I wasn't expecting - I have made some lovely friends and been introduced to people who have come to mean a great deal.  I'm not kidding when I say being on Twitter has had quite an effect on me.

I also knocked http://www.wix.com/mrjohnmacleod/music together.

April

Nothing much seems to have happened here, so I'll move straight onto...

May

At the beginning of  May, I supported MEME, a band who were playing their first gig in a pub called The Musician, in Stoke-on-Trent.  MEME share a bassist with Seers in Mark Bayliss, which is how I came to be recommended, and it was a great night.  Mike came with me to take in some tuneage, and MEME were foot-stompingly good.  My set was largely uneventful, right up until the last song, when three drunks staggered in and, in turn, tried to ask that I play Michael Jackson's 'Man In The Mirror' for a recently divorced friend, took the microphone off me to sing something unintelligible, and loudly boo me because I wouldn't play any Richard Ashcroft.

My Twitter escapades continued on apace, then at the end of the month I had three consecutive days of musical japery.  On the 27th I was a guest with my friends' band 'Our Mutual Friend', who had learned 'Dirty Badger' especially (this was fun, I hadn't played electric guitar onstage for ages - although lack of plug sockets meant that I had to operate my guitar pedals from on top of my amp - that was tricky).

On the 28th I returned to Leek for the music festival, which was holding a busking competition and I spent a merry hour outside Boots, playing whatever songs came into my head.  After two minutes getting heavily rained on, I encouraged a smile from a passer-by by playing Crowded House's 'Weather With You'.

The following day I went to de.bee's in Winsford, for a charity event.  MEME were also playing, so we all travelled together.  It was a lovely day, we all had fun, although there was initial concern when a glance at the running order saw my name with a question mark next to it.  I ended up cutting my half hour set down to three songs, as the apparent course of action was to trim down on the solo acoustic guy, but it was a good night and it's a lovely venue.

That weekend, Gemma Hayes released 'Let It Break' - her fourth studio album.  It's beautiful, quite simply.  Lots of interesting harmony work and full of pace.  The standout track for me on this album is 'Keep Running', a song which just aches.  Gemma is another of those artists who has really influenced the way I write & record, the layering of vocals & guitars has always fascinated me.

June

Nerina Pallot's fourth album, 'Year Of The Wolf' was originally slated to be out at the same time as Gemma Hayes', but there was a two-week delay, and instead it came out the same week as Emmy The Great's second album, 'Virtue'.

'Virtue', an album written as Emmy tried to deal with and make sense of her fiance's sudden turn to Christianity, resulting in him breaking off their engagement.  A superb set of dramatic, at times moody, but always beautiful songs, excellently arranged and benefitting from Emmy's songwriting and delivery.

I had been looking forward to Nerina Pallot's album for a while, and when it arrived, I put it straight on the stereo.  I had recently had something of an epiphany about my life & circumstances and was hitting a sort of resolve, and as such was a bit emotional and thoughtful.  Also - I have found that as Nerina continues to write songs, each one has the power to move me, whether it be an upbeat song, full of joie de vivre, or a quiet, introspective piece.  So from beginning to end of my first listen to 'Year Of The Wolf', I was reaching for hankies and dabbing my eyes, and deciding it was best to wait a bit before thinking about dinner, as I was crying a bit too much.  Especially by the time we got to 'Grace'.

What else was out?  Well, Bon Iver's self-titled album was out in June, but I didn't hear it until November.  Regardless, it's one of the most original albums I've heard, along with Lykke Li.  There's a warm, distant, bleakly beautiful quality to this record, and it's spent a long time on repeat in the house.  I love it.

And then Liam Finn released 'FOMO'!  Short for 'Fear Of Missing Out', this takes the raucous, fantastic energy - not to mention the softer side - of his first album 'I'll Be Lightning', and harnesses it, refines it, and makes it into a worthy follow-up to his debut.  Highlights for me are 'Reckless' and 'Jump Your Bones'.

July

A big month.

First up, Bright Eyes' tour brings him to the UK and, specifically, Manchester Academy.  I travelled across that day and walked around the city - it's my favourite city - getting my bearings from the hotel to the venue and back, then staying in my hotel room half an hour too long & transforming what was going to be a saunter into a mad dash.  It was in the middle of a hot spell in the UK and so was gloriously warm.  Bright Eyes were amazing - more amazing than I thought they would be - and I left Academy 1 just bowled over.  The energy, the occasional flashes of wit, and the amount of songs played - it was a hell of a night.  I travelled home from Manchester the following day, energised.

At the end of the month, my friends Matt & Sarah got married.  Matt is MEME's frontman, and we all met that night at The Musician.  At de.bees, they asked if I would play some songs at their wedding, to which I gladly said yes.  Imagine my embarrassment on the day, when as all the guests were arriving, I was still trying to figure out how the PA system worked and frantically plugging and unplugging things, praying that I could start playing soon, and stop looking like a sweaty panicking man.  The wedding was a beautiful day with perfect weather & good company.  My personal highlight of my gig was people encouraging children to dance to 'I've Still Got your Blood On My Curtains'.  Bonkers.

The day after, I supported Our Mutual Friend.  They had hired the Artrix Theatre in Bromsgrove, their hometown, and this remains my favourite gig that I've played.  A 300-seat theatre, people sitting down, listening to what's happening, sound technicians, lighting rigs.  I was in heaven.  It was nice to pitch a set at precisely my level, without battling to be heard, and everything I said between songs was just spoken.  I usually have to shout a bit.  I skipped off stage, practically.  Happiest night.

August

Similar to April, except I started using YouTube, and began a series of Q&A videos called John MacLeod Speaks To The Internet. I also entered a competition set by Nerina Pallot to be a support act for the London date of her tour.  It was exciting, the first time I'd done something like it, and Nerina was kind enough to leave a comment on the videos that entered the competition.

Also, this hit the Internet and everyone got a bit excited over it.  It is a beautiful song, and so I include Lana Del Rey's 'Video Games'.  Looking forward to seeing what the album brings this year.

September

Neil Finn releases the album he made with his wife, Sharon, under the guise Pajama Club.  A fresh, exciting and new sound for Finn, which makes you wish they had discovered they had this musical chemistry sooner.  Interesting stuff from start to finish, and you can see how much a change of direction suits him, and Neil & Sharon suit each other so well in this.

I also made a second appearance on Moorlands FM, chatting about what I'd been up to, my thoughts on songwriting, and the presenter also went through some of my back catalogue during the chat, which was a new (and fun) experience.  I then played three songs, the introduction to one of them was marred slightly by the sound of my other guitar sliding off its rest and crashing to the floor.

The following weekend I recorded one of my songs, Ether Halo, which I'd written earlier in the year for a friend I'd made on Twitter.  A small video now exists for it, which I uploaded to YouTube:

October

On the last day of decent weather that the UK was to see for the year, I went to see Nerina Pallot play at the Manchester Academy 2.  A brilliant gig, it felt more like a gathering of friends at a party.  There was such an atmosphere of goodwill in the room, and Nerina aids this by being a champion of between-song banter.  There are not many who excel at this to the same degree, and we were treated to insights into songs and musings on what it is to be a student (it was Fresher's Week, which was amusing because the day I came to see Bright Eyes, it was Graduation Day).  I got to say hello to Nerina afterwards, and also made new friends.  It was magic & a happy evening.  It was also the last day this year I walked anywhere at night without a coat or a jacket.


Two weeks later, Dead Radio Society released their first EP, 'Plan Z', and held a launch party at The Rigger, where they played the EP in its entirety, then played a slew of songs that are yet to be released.  They have so much good material, in such a variety of styles (as do Our Mutual Friend), that they are a great band to watch.  I supported them with a 40-minute acoustic set, and was dead chuffed to be a part of the evening.


(This video was made a few weeks later at Fat Cats in Hanley)

November
I had a nice couple of gigs this month, the first being at Verve Bar in Leeds - the first time I've visited the city - on a music evening hosted by Hayley Gaftarnick, an amazingly talented musician with a fantastic voice, one of whose songs has been floating in & out of my subconscious ever since.  I enjoyed the sets of the musicians who played that night, High Hollers and the duo Gerry Cooper & Phil Snell, really good stomping blues & bluegrass.  I had fun playing my set too, managed to orchestrate a singalong of Crowded House's 'Fall At Your Feet', and rouse those present with my own songs, too.  Then got lost on the way back to my hotel in slatting rain (this is a habit for me).

Three days later I played in a pub in my own town, The Old Brown Jug, support Headsticks & Dirty Money No.5.  Having got a near-perfect setlist on the go in Leeds, I was able to give it a tweak & make it even better.  I have lived in this town all my life & never had chance to play in this pub, so it was a treat to do so.


Nothing was released in November that I heard & loved, although it was during my trip to Leeds that I picked up 'Bon Iver' from Jumbo Records in the St. Johns Shopping Centre, and so here is a piece from it.

December
December slowed me down.  I am surprised by how much it did it this year, but my impetus & forward motion just sort of stopped.  I didn't even tweet as much.  Mad, eh?  One CD was released in December that got me, an EP by Nerina Pallot called 'Yes, December'.  Five songs, including a cover of 'Last Christmas' which I can listen to.  The original winds me up, something about the sound of those drums, and it just bugs me.  That's not all that there is to be commended on the EP, the new songs are top drawer, and 'Lot Like Heaven' is on my learn-to-play list, while 'Two Figures In The Snow' blew me away.  A nice last release to hear before the New Year begins!


---------------------------------------


It should be noted that throughout all this, I regularly attended Bearfoot's hosting of the open mic night at The Rigger, and the Folk Club at Keele University, hosted by Dan Elphick.  These music nights have been wonderful & welcoming to play at, despite my occasional frustrations at what pub crowds can often be, and I am extremely glad & thankful that nights like this exist.  Thank you to all concerned for putting them on.


So there it is, my year in music.  I hope you've enjoyed reading, and if you've had time to watch the videos, I hope you've heard something you really like.  I hope 2012 is every bit as exciting in musical terms, both for me and for the people to whom I love listening.  There are amazing musicians and singers and bands out there, people who didn't release anything (or that I just haven't heard yet) this year and therefore didn't make it on the list.  People like Cathy Davey, Queens Of The Stone Age, and Villagers.


I retire for the evening now.  Here's to 2012, and all who sail in her.  Thank you for reading my blogs, being a Twitter-chum, listening to my songs, and letting me bang on about all the above.  Have a lovely year, and keep being ace.


Love,
John.xx

"...Out Of The Bathroom, Wrapped In A Towel..."

It was Thursday evening on the 24th November, 7.30pm, in dark & rain-soaked Leeds.  I stepped out of the taxi, picked up my guitar, two bags and guitar stand, and carried them to the hotel.  I paid for my room, and was told to go to the 6th floor, to Room 629.

The lift door pinged open and I made my way down the long corridor, counting my way along the right-hand side - the odd-numbered side.  I finally came to 629.  I put down my belongings, swiped my card, nudged the door open and wedged it with my foot.  Then, picking up my bags & guitar, I backed into the room.  I turned around and took in my surroundings.

Five minutes later I was back at the Reception desk.
"Excuse me," I said.
"Hello sir, is everything okay with your room?" asked the man on duty.
"Well, funny you should ask - I think you've put me in a room that somebody's, well, in."
"Let me have a look for you." The man turned to his computer.  "No, according to this, there's no-one in there."
"There's a pair of glasses in there, and a rucksack is sitting on an unmade bed."
"Right." A pause.  "Shall I put you in Room 624?"
"If you would."

Good evening, Blogwatchers,

First off: Has it REALLY been this long since I wrote a blog for you to stare at with your eyes?!  The last blog I wrote appears to have travelled back in time to October 16th, and that's just madness, surely.  Ah well, evidently it isn't, and what it actually signifies is that I haven't been arsed to sit & write a bunch of paragraphs with some kind of underlying theme, like a big pratbasket.

(Also, I just moved my KitKat away from my cup of tea, in case the radiating heat from the mug causes the chocolate to melt.)

ANYWAY:  This last weekend has been gigful, for which I am thankful (bloody hell, what a mouthful).  The opening paragraphs of this timely blog detail the first thing that happened to me upon entering the city of Leeds, apart from the brisk walk through the city centre & taking a few moments of not knowing where the shit I was, before getting the aforementioned taxi.  (Seriously folks, it will never cease to amaze me, the sense of "Right, I bet I can find it on foot!" that overwhelms me when setting said foot in uncharted lands.  This bravado can last for anything up to two hours, before my legs & brain give up and I catch a taxi, which often drives me round a corner & charges me four quid for the privilege.)

I'm sure you can picture how much worse the scenario could have been when I entered the first hotel room.  I could have backed in just as some hairy bloke wanders out of the bathroom, wrapped in a bathtowel, brushing his teeth.  Just imagine that moment, that long, silent moment, as our eyes lock in mutual shock & embarrassment.  It being Movember, he probably has a moustache.  There's a bit of chocolate in it.  His grip slackens on the toothbrush, and it drops to the floor.

I like to think that had this happened, without saying a word, I would have backed out of the room in a similar manner to the way I backed in.

Also, when a man comes to you and tells you, from experience of actually having BEEN IN THE ROOM, that someone is already in there, at what point is looking at a computer to see what it thinks is happening going to be of any benefit?  Imagine if I worked in a police station and a man ran in and shouted "SOMEONE'S JUST BEEN STABBED!" and I followed that with "Well, I'll just have a look on our computer to see what's happening... Hmmm... Nope.  There's no mention of any stabbings..."

[deep breath]

After all that got dealt with, and I dropped off my overnight luggage in my room that was for ME, I made my way to the Verve bar (http://www.verveleeds.co.uk/).  I actually found this on foot with next to no trouble at all.  That is, I found the road it was on, but actually went the wrong way initially, and so for several minutes was walking in the wrong direction (and, in fact, at some points, along 3 completely incorrect roads that branched off Merrion Street, one of which lead me past a very sweary busker who wasn't keen on the fact that no-one was putting money in his guitar case).

I backtracked massively in the end, and spotted the sidestreet down which the Verve Bar was placed, and found a wonderfully cosy little bar.  The gig was taking place downstairs, in a slightly smaller bar-room, which had a stage at one end, big wall-hugging sofas at the other, and some alternative seating in the middle.  Amid the chaos of one of the acts trying to find working sockets & guitar/mic leads, was Hayley Gaftarnick, who runs the gig nights at Verve - she is a superb musician (go to http://www.youtube.com/user/HGaftarnick to see some of her performances and the like - she played "Forgive Me" at the end of the night) and a lovely person.

As all the setting-up continued, I parked myself on a settee & finished writing the inlays of the CDs I'd cobbled together, and chatted to Hayley & some of the folk who were in the bar.  The evenings that happen at Verve are quite beautifully serendipitous, from what I can gather.  The acts coalesce & form a good evening's entertainment, regardless of music genre, band members, or bar population.  As it happened, the two acts who also played that night were both very much into traditional blues stylings.

First up were High Hollers, a duo of vocals, acoustic guitar & mouth organ (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-High-Hollers/122245211136019).  They were two, really nice & friendly chaps, with a good grip on "da blooz", and cheerfully commented upon how easy it is to slip into the wrong song, as some of them "do blur together after a while".  They played a nice set, albeit far too brief, sadly.  They were just hitting their stride when they got to the last song.

After this were Gerry Cooper & Phil Snell (www.philsnell.co.uk/GerryandPhil.aspx) .  Gerry played guitar and sang, while Phil alternated between mandonlin, acoustic guitar and violin, and also providing backing vocals.  Again, a wonderful selection of blues & bluegrass styles, with impressive fingerpicking, lead breaks, and instrumentals, and a pleasant conversational tone weaving its way through their set.  I was happily drawn into it all, and almost forgot that I was playing after them!

My set was fun.  I enjoyed it.  So, it seems, did everyone there.  I plucked a setlist out of thin air, including a new song called Pretty Soon, which I had written the week before, and even ended up leading a singalong of Crowded House's "Fall At Your Feet" with the crowd, after someone asked if I knew it (this is nice when it happens - usually I am haunted by cries of "D'yer know any Oasis?" or "PLAY RICHARD ASHCROFT!")  Speaking of which, how exactly does one play Richard Ashcroft?  Does he have guitar-like properties?  I suppose if I were to attach strings to his belt and stretch them over his face, applying pressure to strategic parts of his neck, chest and stomach, it could work.  On the whole, though, I'd rather just play guitar.

Anyway, it was a pleasure to play a venue completely new to me, to people who won't have heard me before, and have a completely fresh musical experience.  It was great fun, and everyone I met that night was lovely & friendly.  So, if you were there and you're reading this - thank you.

After the gig, we went to a handful of bars (not easy when you've a backpack, guitar stand & guitar case), the last of which took us to a completely different road, which meant that I completely lost my bearings and managed to direct myself to the place I mentioned earlier, where I was momentarily lost and got a taxi.  This time there weren't any taxis, it was 1am, and it was pissing rain.  I stomped swearily in three different directions for forty minutes or so, then went back & tried following the route the taxi had taken me five hours previously.  That worked, and I sloshed into my hotel, aching of shoulder & grumpy of temperament (it really was raining SO hard).  I relaxed as soon as I was in my hotel bed, and the good cheer returned very quickly. I slept like a log.

The following day was spent trying to walk around Leeds, but I didn't get terribly far, as intermittent rain dominated the afternoon, so I was mostly ducking from shopping centre to cafe in order to dodge another soaking.  In the midst of that, though, I did find Jumbo Records, a wonderful little independent record store (http://www.jumborecords.co.uk/), full of friendly staff and, had this place been in my vicinity on Independent Record Store Day earlier this year, I'd have provided my custom like a shot.  I bought Bon Iver's eponymous album from there, and have listened to it for the entire weekend, it's excellent.  One of the most unusual albums I've listened to of late, but unusual isn't the right word - "original sounding" is better.  Brilliant rhythms, arrangements and melodies.

After this I travelled home and spent the weekend largely recumbent - after carting my stuff around to Leeds & back, my shoulders were complaining a little.  On the Sunday night I played a gig supporting Headsticks and Dirty Money No.5 (http://www.dirty-money.net/) at Newcastle-under-Lyme's very own The Old Brown Jug (http://www.oldbrownjug.com/).  I've always loved the pub, my friends and I would gather there at the end of a working week, and I have seen a few bands play there, and now it was my turn.  It was a surprisingly comfortable place to stand and play, there's a very nice light set-up, and the crowd were friendly and attentive, which always makes my day.

Headsticks, an acoustic duo, describe themselves as agit-folk, and played a heartfelt set of songs that deal with local/global issues in a very empassioned & heartfelt way, but also with a gentle wit, especially in between-song banter.  You would ordinarily think that to write & play songs about the state of the nation would be an arduous task, but with Headsticks this is definitely not the case - their chatter and way with the stage make it enjoyable & an all-round good experience.

Dirty Money No.5 are more roots reggae, and also I have never seen them before.  Their set was good and lively, with a wonderful array of talented musicians, including wheels-of-steel vinyl skillz, which is not something I see every day.  They played a good set, and had it been on a busy Saturday, they would have encouraged a few dancers in the crowd.  Really good, energetic songs & performances.  Thank you to Andy Tranter and Geordie Nic McCarthy, and all who organised the gig and asked me to play & soforth.  It was a class night.

So there we have it.  A weekend's musicking & associated tomfoolery crammed into a single blog!  You must be on your second cup of tea by now, and in desperate need of toiletular relief, so I will let you do that funny mincing run as you clasp yourself in order to avoid making a mess.  RUN!  OR YOU'LL NEVER GET THERE IN TIME!

Meanwhile, sorry I've written so darned much, but this is what happens if you let me get away with not leaving a blog here for over a month.  Be warned: DON'T let this happen again!  I shall away to make a quick Audioboo (http://audioboo.com/mrjohnmacleod), something I have been having tremendous fun doing recently, and probably explains why i haven't written here for so long.  So while I go and do that, I leave you with gratitude for reading and I hope you're all well.

Goodnight all,
Love,
John.xx

All I Need Is A Tube Of Smoky Bacon Pringles And A Place From Which To Stand...

Hello everyone!  How are you all?  Comfortable?  You'd better be...

I have had an interesting weekend, in which I played a support gig for the superb Dead Radio Society, which was very nice indeed.  (I've known them for a year and a half, and this is the first time we've been able to share a billing, and - I hope - not the last.)  I then spent the weekend with friends, playing games, watching DVDs and going for a pub meal.  My weekend was briefly marred by a slightly rude cashier at a supermarket in Leek, who asked me for ID whilst I was buying a bottle of beer.  Apparently, I have to look over 25 in order to buy alcohol, and apparently, I don't.  I don't have any other form of ID than my passport, and I have never needed to take my passport to my supermarket.  I have only needed my passport in order to go to Greece.

Now seems to be a good time to mention that my 32nd birthday is this Friday, and also that my friends (who, incidentally, bought all the beer they could fit in a carrier bag or two each), who were with me in the queue, averaged at about eight years younger than me.  The irony is not lost on me that had I been unable to buy alcohol this weekend, it would have ruined a weekend of playing games and watching cartoons.

One thing I was able to buy without fear of reprisals was Pringles.  Oh, blogwatchers, I do love me some Pringles.  I know this constitutes product endorsement, and were I a well-established, internationally loved career-musician, I would be sitting here with my fingers crossed, looking out of my bedroom window in case a giant Pringles lorry crawled down my road, crunching wing-mirrors on the way past (for 'tis a small road bejewelled with cars), delivering the lifetime supply of moreish crisps I so crave.

(I also loved Cheese Bugles - an occasionally recurrent theme on Facebook and Twitter is my sorrow and teeth-gnashing disbelief that they are no longer available in the UK.  This is probably wonderful news for my arteries, who, years ago, had to sustain me despite my filling them with conical corn tastiness for several months.)

It gladdens my heart to see new flavours appearing as I gaze at the Pringles section in supermarkets these days.  I don't go for spicy flavours, nor do I like anything too oniony (cheese & onion has never appealed to me, largely because of the smell, but also because I used to sit next to someone who scoffed them at lunchtime, and then would breathe cheese & onion crumb-gas into my face - I still retch a little even now), no - my flavours of choice are either plain or something with a meaty theme.

Thus I was really curious (and my curiosity cannot be fully described on this humble blog without graphs and descriptive etchings) when I saw, on the shelf before me, Spaghetti Bolognese flavour Pringles.  And, two shelves down, Smoky Bacon.  Paydirt.  As far as the bolognese goes, they are doing a range of dinner flavours, it seems, as there was also steak & ale (or onion, I forget) pie flavour, spicy fajita, and macaroni cheese (this one's next on the "To-Try" list).  As for smoky bacon, I'd not seen these before, and I just love bacon.

I can entertainedly report that, once I'd bought my beer from Tesco's (self-service till, authorisation needed, staff-member didn't even look, just swiped the card & let me buy the beer - THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE!), and we all got back to my friends' house, the bolognese Pringles were tentatively tried & ambivalence was the main verdict.  However, when I came downstairs the next morning, they had been polished off and it was agreed that, yes - the more you eat, the better they get.

I am not a connoisseur of food, it must be said.  I love a good meal and will happily eat in whatever decent restaurant you plonk me in, but start talking snacks & I will compare happy/outraged memories, share out bags of crisps for taste-testing (and also a glass of water or lemonade, you don't want to cross-pollinate flavoursome crumbs for fear of spoiling the judgement), and hide Monster-Munch in a bottomless crevass (I have no desire to smear my teeth in orange gunk, thankyouverymuch, and the same goes for Wotsits).

I can imagine you being a bit concerned by these paragraphs, so I will take a moment to assure you that this is not an obsession.  I have, in recent months, become aware of how many bags of crisps I can get through during weekends and time at work.  I recently cut crisps from my lunchtime diet, and a tube of Pringles is a rare treat for me.  I would expect them to stay that way too, otherwise the beauty of them would just be lost in a haze of dry-mouthed salt-lust.

Anyway, I think you all know me that little bit extra now, and I feel a little bit easier plugging my wares.  As you all know, I am writing a mailing list and I would continue to urge you to join up and receive an e-mail from me once a fortnight.  It'll be largely upcoming gig lists and the like, but I would make efforts to send the odd e-mailable free gift (I have just laughed whilst typing this, as there is no way of e-mailing something you would have to pay for, and I currently have no items for sale - although I am now working on this).  I do recommend the mailing list, as it will prevent any confusion regarding the location of any gigs I'm playing at, and any other pertinent information.  I am slightly better at giving out all the relevent details on the mailing list, and it's a friendly little mailout as well.  Ask anyone who's on it!

If you'd like to join (and after that cosy ad, why wouldn't you?), go to www.wix.com/mrjohnmacleod/music and go to the 'Contact' page, where there is an e-mail form to fill in.  That goes straight to me, and I'll add you to the list.  If you're going to this site through your smartphone, you will instead see a link that says "Get in touch" - you'll be able to e-mail me through that.  You would be most welcome and will receive the digital equivalent of a nice hot cup of tea and the biscuits of your choice (I could talk about that now, but it's a whole other blog...).

Meantime, if you chaps would like to know where I am up to at the moment, I am still looking at songs and wondering what to do with them.  It's an odd thing, I am very, very eager to put songs somewhere where you can download/buy/keep them, and that is now quite high on my priority list.  I am thinking of one or two EPs of home demo material while I work at what I would like my "album" to be.  So I will keep plugging away at home demoes (and, more importantly, getting them right) with which to do this.  So please do keep bearing with me while I'm working this out, because I feel I am not that far from having things I can present to you (that aren't diatribes about crisps).

In the meantime, I hope you have finished your cup of tea before it went cold, and if you feel you need something stronger and alcoholic to drink (my blogs can have this effect, I've had the tests done), make sure you take your passport with you when you go to buy it.

Take care folks,
John.xx

A Long And Enigmatic Pause (Meeting Your Heroes Isn't Always A Bad Thing)

Nerina Pallot & I, 4th October 2011

Hello Blogwatchers! (Yes, I realise I come up with a different name for you every time I write here, but this is something that we are all going to have to live with.  I'm sorry, but there it is.)  Since last we spoke, I have returned from holiday, gone back to work for a week, and then taken most of the next week off to go & see Nerina Pallot play at the Manchester Academy 2.  More on that later, but I thought I would mention it now so as to explain the opening photograph that graces this post.

First, there is business to deal with.  SICKENING business!  Last time, I was telling you about my situation with drumming and the potential of the noise carrying over to next door due to very thin walls, was I not?  I would just like to quote for you, a segment from the last blog:

"...(It also occurs to me that I have, at this house, never had that moment where my blood runs cold because I realise I can clearly hear next door bonking - evidently they too are scared stiff, if you'll pardon the phrasing)..."

Just mull that quote over to yourselves, dear readers.  The following week after I wrote those words, the Friday, to be precise, I was putting my shoes on to go to a works dinner (Chinese food, fantastic restaurant, just down the road from me - delicious!), I heard a funny noise.  I thought it was me sitting on my bed at first.  Then it happened again while I was sitting still and I realised it was not from my side of the wall.  It wasn't until the fourth or fifth moan that I realised exactly what it was, and that it was not, after all, a creaky door.

Oh dear.

Of course, I would never pour scorn upon a couple doing whatever they wish to do in their own home, but it does rather shine a poor light upon the sound insulation in terraced houses.  Nearly two years ago, when I moved into this house, one of the people next door came upstairs and said "Goodnight!" to someone, to which I (who was sitting on my settee reading a book) replied "G'night!"  That's how thin the walls are.

And yes, in some ways I am grumbling about two peoples evident happiness and contentment, but I don't want to hear that every night! And it has been every night up until last night.  It's a bit quieter now, so I'm either successfully blocking it out or it's not on the menu at the moment.  Either way, THANK YOU.  But you haven't come here for prurient gossip about my neighbours, have you. (Have you?)  No, of course you haven't.  You've come here to find out what happens when you go Manchester to see a favourite musician, and share a room with four other people.  Well, even if you haven't, that's what you're getting.

I had elected to travel light, but in doing so, completely forgot I was staying in a shared hostel, so realising I had forgotten to pack sleepwear and a towel was something of a revelation.  Thankfully I could hire a towel for a pound, so that was fine.  I did have to snoop round Primark for cheap jimjams though, which I managed to find.  My room had three bunkbeds in it, one of which was to be unoccupied, so all in all there five of us.  When I went to see Bright Eyes in July, I was sadly late for the gig and missed half the support set.  I didn't want this to happen again, so I left the hostel earlier and got to the Academy in plenty of time.

A chap named Samuel Taylor kicked the night off as a solo acoustic act, and was really good.  His stage banter improved as his set progressed, and his songs were excellent.  It almost seemed a pity that by the time he had a really good rapport with the audience, it was his last song, but it's how these things go.  After him, Jodie Marie was the second support act.  Again, excellent songs, a very strong voice, and good musicians backing her, on percussion and acoustic guitar.

After a fairly short pause while the instruments & gear were set up, Nerina and her band took to the stage...

Nerina Pallot & her band, Manchester Academy 2, 04/10/2011

Nerina's concert was a blinder, and an inspiring one, albeit in a different way to the Bright Eyes gig.  It's a hard one to put into words, but it was like instead of going to a gig, it felt as if we'd all been invited into a party.  Nerina does a wonderful line in stage banter, and so much of the gig can be given to stories and ruminations.  Sometimes it will be relevant to an upcoming song, sometimes it won't, but it will always be funny, entertaining and welcomed by the audience.  Two songs into the set, Nerina's first words to us, after a long and enigmatic pause, were: "Oh fuck it, I was going to do this whole gig and not say a word, but that would be wrong, wouldn't it?"

From then on there were some lovely moments with stories of friends of hers who'd met at university and got married, a couple in the audience got engaged between songs, thoughts were shared on the real reason people wear sunglasses indoors, and her first gig at Acedemy 2 ten years ago was discussed.  Oh, and there were songs, lots of brilliant songs.  Some of Nerina Pallot's music puts a lump in my throat no matter where I hear it, and  'History Boys' is one of the new songs which does this, and the emotional impact was not lost onstage, in fact it was intensified (and I am half-glad that 'If I Lost You Now' or 'Grace' didn't show up, as they get me the most).

It was a lovely concert, and I am glad to have made it to Manchester to see it (any excuse to come to Manchester, really).  I hung around the Merchandise stall, as that is apparently where Nerina goes post-show to chin-wag with fans, and after a short while and no Nerina, security herded us out to the entrance hall where we were told she'd come down shortly.  After a further few minutes or so, security then asked everyone to leave the building.  I had started chatting to Jenny, Anneka and Elga, from Germany, who were in England to see all Nerina's shows (like a travelling holiday but with more music), and I asked security, as much on their behalf as mine, what was happening, as we were hoping to say hi etc.  "Nah, you'll have missed her," was the reply, so we left the building.

I didn't think the security chap was entirely right, as there's usually loads of equipment loading and palaver after a gig, and I didn't think it'd hurt to check round the side of the venue, and sure enough there was a van being loaded with stuff, and one or two other people standing around in a hopeful sort of way.  And yes, after a short while, Nerina came out.  She had come, Sharpie in hand, to where she thought everyone would be, in the building, but found it empty after security had cleared everyone out, so didn't get to meet many people afterwards, somewhat unfairly both for her and for the people who were hoping to see her.

I would like to say in print (well, blogprint at any rate) that Nerina Pallot is such a cheerful and lovely person to meet.  She is always genuinely excited that people listen to her music, and knows what a lucky & unqiue position she is in, and that enthusiasm shows in everything she does.  I think that enthusiasm stopped me feeling too nervous (I have written before about an incident concerning Neil Finn and my gabbling to him over my wallet, which had been stolen earlier in the day), and also the fact that she recognised me from my tweetings and YouTube competition entry, which, while there's no reason it should, surprised me.  It was nice to have a natter (she loves Staffordshire oatcakes, and if there's ever one reason to briefly visit, that's it).  I have been something of a vociferous supporter of her of late (see my "John MacLeod Speaks To The Internet" YouTube series), and, I have always felt, with good reason.  If you don't already listen, track down her albums & do so.

The evening ended with Jenny, Anneka, Elga and I walking through Manchester to our respective hotels, talking about music and the way the internet has changed how musicians can interact with their fans, and spread their listenership.  Jenny & I also talked about her travels to the UK to see touring musicians, and I would reckon she's seen more of the UK than I have!  This is another thing I love about going to gigs - should you happen to make a friend, it can be a rather nice thing.

I got to my hostel at probably about quarter past midnight.  I quietly tiptoed into my room, to find I wasn't the last one in (yes - small victory!)  I got changed in the bathroom and tried to put all my stuff in an orderly pile without making too much noise (there was a paper bag which could not have crinkled any louder, to my exasperation), I climbed the ladder to my bunk, lay down, and completely and utterly failed to get to sleep.  I must only have nodded off for the few minutes that Occupant #5 turned up & got into bed.  Other than that, I was very, very aware that a further four people were breathing/snoring/sleeping, and I could not nod off for love nor money.  Still, for one night it was perfectly comfortable and would go there again next time.  So long as the hot water's fixed (the cold shower I had to endure the following morning was the least enjoyable shower I've had in a long time).

So that's a recap of the last few days, dear Blogwatchers.  I hope you have enjoyed reading it, as I certainly have enjoyed writing it.  If you would like to receive fortnightly ramblings and news from me, I have started a mailing list which will include any forthcoming live dates, news, and the occasional free gift (the sort that could be attached to an e-mail, of course).  If you would like to join it, I would urge you to get your skates on and go to http://www.wix.com/mrjohnmacleod/music where, on the Contact page, is a little form you can fill in to send me an e-mail.  Once you've done that, I will add you to the mailing list and you can get updates from me about stuff.  Please do sign up if you're interested in my doings, as could prove to be a handy reminder for anything you might miss on Twitter!

Right, the hour is late, rain is pattering against my window, and I am getting up and playing badminton with a friend of mine tomorrow.  I do not wish to appear zombie-like.  I wish you all a lovely sleep, and take care.  Thank you for reading,

Love,
John.xx

The distinct possibility of a swim

Good day to you,

Now, before you start, YES - I know I'm on holiday; YES - I know I should be putting all my inner workings to one side and "de-compressing" or whatever they call it; and NO - I evidently don't have a life.  But I live to serve you nice people, and so seeing as how I shan't be broadcasting to you via YouTube today, and that I don't have my guitar with me (this is KILLING me by the way, more on that later, assuming I don't start bawling my eyes out and forlornly air-guitaring), I am going to give you the gift of words.

So, as I say, I'm on holiday.  I am at Elveden Forest Center Parcs with my family, and I have not been on a big family holiday for YEARS.  I haven't been to Center Parcs for about four years, and the last BIG family outing was a while before even that, so I can see myself regressing significantly.  Especially with the addition of my little nephew, who is almost 8 months old and has just mastered crawling.  My parents, uncle & I arrived after a five-hour car journey to find the little fella excitedly clambering across the floor in chase of a plastic ball.  It's amazing and funny and scary all at once.  I last saw him at the start of August and he had mastered being on all fours, but could not progress to moving himself about, which he really wanted to do.

We also witnessed a first this morning - my brother-in-law put one of his spoons in his hand, to see what he would do with it, and after a moment's deliberation he held it properly and placed the spoon end in his mouth, prompting a round of applause.  He seems to like applause, so perhaps I should get him on a musical instrument early?  Not drums, my sister would never forgive me. [evil chuckle...]

It makes me think of when I started becoming musically inclined.  I was about 16/17 and had started listening to Crowded House (when their best of came out & they broke up, incidentally - my timing was impeccable, I had the same effect on Ben Folds Five, so if you wish to blame me, go right ahead), and the first instrument I tried was drums.  I loved my drum kit.  Especially when I had the skins replaced with Remo drum skins and got some Paiste cymbals.  Magic.  If I could have kept them and used them for recordings, I absolutely would have.  I used to drum along to Crowded house albums, and Fleetwood Mac too.  A friend of the family visited for a weekend once, and brought with him a copy of the Fleetwood Mac live video ("The Dance" - it is excellent, and you haven't seen it, I urge you to), and watching Mick Fleetwood drum was one of those inspiring moments that I remember.  Except I don't pull as many silly face as he does.  Hopefully.

Sadly, my drums were eventually sold.  I had long since started playing guitar by this point, and we needed not only the space, but I bought a drum machine to aid & facilitate my recording exploits.  A substantial amount of recordings on my website/soundcloud/Facebook pages were recorded with my programmed drums, and Sea Glass is the only one that involves my electric drum kit and is, ergo, ACTUALLY me drumming.  It's nice to be able to do that again, I have missed it.  The reason i now have electric drums is that they are easy to move about and are not as neighbourhood-angering as an actual drum kit (although the noise of me banging them must sound like hammering to next door, and as such I still feel guilty about playing them).

My current living circumstances are that I have neighbours and very thin walls, which I think is inhibiting me and my recording a little, and I am terrified to make too much noise too often, therefore I am getting very little done.  I am thinking a way round this.  (It also occurs to me that I have, at this house, never had that moment where my blood runs cold because I realise I can clearly hear next door bonking - evidently they too are scared stiff, if you'll pardon the phrasing)  I may have said this before, but coming in and eating on a weeknight leaves little time to do anything much, so I have weeknight blues, followed by YouTube weekends, so once I get this block of six out of the way, my weekends will be a bit more recordingy and when I start John Macleod Speaks To The Internet again, I will record them on weeknights, as I will hopefully not be relying on daylight for a decent picture!

In the meantime, as mentioned earlier, I do not have my guitar on this holiday.  I appreciate how long I can spend strumming, and I was worried that all of us in this villa (there are eight of us, plus my nephew) being at close quarters, my guitar would be an irritant.  I now crave a strum on my guitar, and I worry that I will get an idea for a song and now way of pinning it to a chord structure.  I do have my lyric book with me, so I can at least write things down.  That said, my frame of mind has moved from "writing" to "recording", which is an odd feeling, because it's as if I have noticed this shift, like a flicked switch.  I want to apply ideas and processes to existing songs now, instead of creating them.

Still.  Today is nice.  It is sunny, and I have been lent The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by a lovely lovely friend, so I think I will tuck into that.  And there is the distinct possibility of a swim later.  Enjoy what you are doing, hope your weekends are full of goodness.

Speak soon chuckleheads,
John.xxx

P.S:  This week there has been a significant surge in very lovely people taking an interest in my scribblings, songs and the like, for which I would like to say THANK YOU SO MUCH.  The reason I do this is because I want people to hear my songs and without people passing on words of encouragement and being generally ace, this would feel a lot more like an uphill battle.  And it gives me more of a drive to do stuff that you will like, so please do keep sticking with me and I will do likewise.  Your support means a hell of a lot to me, and if you like it, please spread the word.  I really am very grateful and it has made this week magical.  Keep listening! :-P

A mess of nerves

Hello, people-who-follow-what-I-do-on-the-internet (or, as I like to call you, "folks").

I am getting the impression that there might be an extra handful of you this week, owing to a certain glass-bead-making magician lady who gave me a shout-out on the Twitter and turned my weekend from an okay one into a lovely one.  I had recently uploaded my new YouTube video which gave her a mention (and if you want to find out who, watch Episode Five of my "Speaks To The Internet" series, shown below.  I know - me so crafty...)  There was I, food-shopping in a petrol station/miniature supermarket at half past three in the afternoon, when suddenly a barrage of lovely tweets kicked their way onto my phone, from people saying hello & announcing their intention to give me a follow on the say-so of my friend.  I am not too proud to say I got a little teary-eyed and had to pretend that I was allergic to microwaveable party food (I was standing next to the freezers) before gathering my wits & buying an extra packet of biscuits.

But I am not here simply to tell you that I cry in miniature supermarkets - that would be folly!  I am also here to tell you of my baffling apathy.  Well, it's not apathy as such, more lacking in time.  I am finding that there are not enough hours in the day, and by the time I have eaten dinner, it is practically too late to start rattling round the house, making loud noises and upsetting the neighbours.  For this reason alone, I am looking forward to getting the last "Speaks To The Internet" out of the way, because I will then spend a few weekends getting songs made and experimenting and the like.  The only song I have had chance to play with has been Sea Glass, and I'm very pleased with the results there, so the potential for other songs is rather exciting.

And I think the thing I am rather excited about is that I feel ready to tinker with at least a dozen songs!  There was a point when I was writing a lot, and didn't feel quite ready, as a result, to record.  I don't know how regular this is for any other musicians among you, but I think I am either in a writing frame of mind, or recording.  I have very prolific periods when I am writing songs, and then it's as if it turns off  in order to tell me to get cracking on recording all of them.  This is all well and good, but when time becomes something you don't have a great deal of, that urge to record becomes as much of a curse as it does a blessing, so, as I say, once I get my last YouTube episode done, I will get cracking on my demoes again.

I'll be honest with you, as I know that you're all imagining me with my customary cup of tea whilst typing this at you, I am sans cuppa.  I KNOW.  It has been a day where I felt myself atrophying in my day-to-day surroundings, and after I had dinner I felt the need to at least play through one or two songs, whereupon the time slipped to 10.30pm and yawns were happening.  I am due an early night or two, so here I am typing in bed.

What else is going on?  Well, I go on a holiday with my family on Friday.  We haven't all been on a family holiday for years, and my 7-month-old nephew is coming too, so it's going to be a lovely week.  Also, Friday is the deadline day for entries to the Nerina Pallot support slot competition, so I might be a mess of nerves by then.  I have mentioned it a fair bit, I know, and it is funny because directly after uploading my entry for it, I was anxiety personified.  I had levelled off a bit in the intervening couple of weeks, but I noticed today that I am once again on tenterhooks, trying not to focus on a) What could happen if I win, and b) What could happen if I lose.  I am not expecting to win, I have seen some of the entries and they are superb, but it's fun having submitting something & I can't tell you how much I would love the chance to do this.

The radio appearance I mentioned last time is still on - an interview & three songs at Moorlands Radio, Monday 26th September GMT, 7pm - 10pm.  You can tune in on 103.7FM or log onto http://www.moorlandsradio.co.uk/ to listen live, and if you want to find the Facebook page and send them messages or questions for them to ask me, the page is here, so go for it.

That's all the business & waffle dealt with, I think.  If you are new to my internet doings, welcome - please don't hesitate to join in & comment, be it here, Twitter, YouTube or Facebook.  I welcome interaction so long as you're not impolite or offensive, so if you like what I do, don't be shy in saying.  I wouldn't feel able to do any of this if no-one was paying attention or shouting encouragement!

There will be more blog soon, in the meantime - see you when the next YouTube video comes out!

Lots of love,
John,.xxx

A grudge or a whim

Evening, readers.

Another day, another night, another session in front of my computer, typing out codswallop in the company of a good cup of tea (one step beyond just "showing it the teabag", I like it weak, but not anaemic). Actually, it's a bit lukewarm now. It was too hot, but I think I've spent too long letting it sit.

(I have to type this now as it sounds rather cool and exciting, but I have had to stop writing this blog for a few minutes after receiving a message from a local radio station, asking for any more mp3s in the run-up to my interview and session later this month. I have hunted down the most recent recording I've made & emailed it off. As a consequence, this blog is now ten minutes behind schedule and my cup of tea is now undrinkable, but, in the long-run, it's worth it, isn't it?)

If there's any of you here who stalks me, you will no doubt know that I have been excitedly starting a YouTube series for the past few weeks (what?! Over a MONTH?!!) and have rather excitedly been doing all sorts on it. Now, I don't know if it shows, but I do work rather hard on them. It's taken a few goes to get the format of my weekly series looking right, but I reckon I hit my stride by Episode Three - the look of it & the way it's put together is now possibly the swishest I can manage (and just wait until I get a lead for my camera - it should really hit a new height by then!). Anyway, to keep to the point: I work hard and I do my best to deliver something you may want to watch.

So with this thought in mind, it seems somewhat silly to allow internet trolls with an itchy antisocial trigger-finger to stamp through my page on YouTube and start clicking "dislike" on all my videos, doesn't it? Yes, it does.  Now, I know you could write this off with a simple "Oh, look at 'im chucking his toys out the pram just 'cos someone didn't like his wittering on about fish & chips," and I don't even say that I'd deny that, but the thing is, the rating system on YouTube doesn't seem to make a great deal of sense, or at least isn't a reliable way of gauging a good video from a bad video, and it's also apparently based on the assumption that internet trolls don't exist.

I can assure you, they do.

If we take my uploads as an example: As of Sunday morning, no-one had clicked "dislike" on any of the videos I have posted thus far. I posted Episode Four and within half an hour it had been disliked. Then, in the space of five or ten minutes, all my videos were similarly "rated". But what does it mean to click that button? Next to nothing - it just means that your videos are shown to have a negative rating, which looks bad. I didn't slog my guts out to make something that will look bad purely because someone doesn't like my face! Call me old-fashioned, but if you've nothing pleasant to say about something someone's posted on the internet, you just leave it be, surely? Or if you've a constructive gripe, you take the time and effort to order your thoughts and post a comment, maybe? You don't just click a button that effectively says "I think this is shit, and furthermore, I won't tell you why either!"

I suppose, to me, it goes against the kind of community that sites like YouTube strive to encourage. They try to foster a community spirit, where someone may say "Hey, I like your work," or "This is good, but I felt it needed..." and the "dislike" button seems to go against that - it's just a purely negative thing. When I started using Facebook earlier last year, I saw people saying "Why isn't there a "dislike" button on Facebook?", which I at first joined in with, but now I think I know why there isn't one. Which is why I've disabled the function on my videos. You can now either ignore it, or favourite it, or write a constructive comment. I have no time for people I do/don't know just clicking "dislike" due to a grudge or a whim, so the chance shall not be open.

So, stepping off my soapbox and sliding it quietly under the settee, I will tell you how amazed I have been by something today. I am currently wearing trousers that I wore for my graduation ceremony. In 2001. Yes, these suit trousers are ten years old and they still fit. Unless I eat dinner, whereupon I will sit for five hours and wonder if anyone will notice, should I do an ear-splitting guff to release the pressure on the trouser-fastenings. I will not lie, I am not surprised. I grabbed them out of the wardrobe by mistake and was amazed that I could pop them on AND do them up, but the point where I started to get a vaguely achey stomach was something I had half-expected. At least I didn't launch into a protracted coughing escapade and launch a button into anyone's eye. That would have been unfortunate.

"So, amid all this conflab & soapbox-ranting, is there anything you can offer us by way of actual information, you cretinous halfwit?" I hear you ask. The answer is a sort of a "No"-ey "Yes". I can tell you for definite that I will be supporting Dead Radio Society on October 14th, in an evening's celebration of the release of their EP, "Plan Z" (which you will have to fang hold of when it's released, because if it's anything like the work-in-progress preview I heard a few months ago, it will be simply superb). I can also tell you that I will be appearing on Moorlands FM later this month, on Monday 26th September. Now, they are on 103.7 FM in my local area (just), but they DO broadcast on the internet as well, at www.moorlandsradio.co.uk, and the show is on every Monday at 7pm-10pm, so if you have those hours free, I would love for you to tune in and listen. I was on there in January this year, so it's nice to be invited back and to give a progress report on what I've been doing since (writing alot, playing more is the upshot, but I'm sure I can pad it out).

There is nothing else I can yet divulge, apart from I have three songs that I aim to have a boot around on this week, voice prevailing. I had a bit of a sore throat issue last week & it's just starting to clear up, so hopefully I can get a few things done before I go on holiday in a fortnight. Any other information is currently speculation, unconfirmed or merely an idea floating in the ether, so all I can say is stay tuned, and as exciting things happen I will drip feed them to you. If you're not already, I heartily recommend following me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/mrjohnmacleod) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/mrjohnmacleod) to get the up-to-the-minute info I strive so hard to give you.

So with all the information and nonformation with which I have presented you, it seems a perfect moment for me to give you a hug, a peck on the cheek, slip your arms into your coat (for I'm a proper gent, me) and wish you a safe journey. I will see you here again soon, no doubt, and I will talk just as much shit then as I have tonight. I enjoy these trips to Blogland, but bed calls and a long week awaits. I hope we continue to make this week bearable for each other, so do pester me (within reason).

Goodnight, folks!
John.xx