Sundays are the new Saturdays.
Oh yes! Yesterday I enjoyed a very nice day out in Birmingham my friend Steph. It started as a ‘let’s meet up and have a coffee for an hour or so’ and ended in an all day, drinking lots of coffee, eating food and drinking beer type of event. So that was a lot of fun, many words were spoken and many footsteps taken….Birmingham City Centre really is quite nice on a blustery Autumn Sunday, picturesque and not too busy.
We checked out the latest outdoor photo exhibition to hit Birmingham, an a amazing set of Wildlife photos by a photographer called Steve Bloom (check him out here), some of his photos are so amazing they look like paintings, and some capture a moment of such natural awe and action that they’re breath-taking. Well worth checking out.
Also worth checking out if you haven’t already (I hadn’t!) is Starbucks’ Vanilla Latte! I’ve drunk regular latte for years, even put Vanilla sprinkles on top of it…but the Vanilla Syrup one is delicious, so thanks to Stephenie for the recommendation! All we need now is a Starbucks in Walsall…..it’s only a matter of time, so come on you corporate bastards - come and make money out of me and my friends! ;)
So….England beat Poland, finished top of the group….and Villa beat Blues who are now in the relegation zone - all is right in the world of Football!
Bloc Party were pretty damn good last Thursday, really enjoyed the gig…the night after that I caught ‘The Feeling’ in Wolverhampton…nice to catch up with the guys who I’d not seen for a couple of years and their new band is ace, quite quirky poppy indie…reminded me of Queen and Jellyfish, maybe a bit of early Supergrass and the poppier side of New Radicals, definitely worth checking out when they tour next year….massive choruses that you can’t help but tap your foot, nod your head to and wake up singing the next morning. Just what the doctor ordered!
Saturday night was spent out and about in Walsall, visiting more than one pub (somewhat of a rarity) and ending up in ‘The Trough’ (as it used to be called)….a proper dirty rock club, with loud rock music blasting all night…and loads of dudes that look like Nick Oliveri. A good time was had by all.
Today I bought another album from Pearl Jam’s ‘official bootlegs’ series. For their current North American tour they have a new download shop where for 10 dollars you buy the full gig (in this case 2 and half hours long) in hi quality MP3s format (better quality that the tracks iTunes sell), custom printable artwork for each show and I also got 19 hi-res photos of the show….all for about 6 quid!
I choose to buy the recording of their recent Toronto gig because Bono had appeared on stage with them and sung Neil Young’s ‘Keep On Rockin In The Free World’. Bono and Vedder were in fine form with Eddie paying homage to U2 earlier in the show (all of U2 were watching from the wings) and later Bono repaid the compliment when adlib-ing in the song. Two very cool statesmen of rock, both with a killer sense of humour. The Toronto set also had quite a few songs I haven’t heard them do live many times on the recordings I have, and also a cover of ‘Harvest Moon’ by Neil Young (they refer to him as ‘Uncle Neil’ and were playing in his home-country!)…..so that was an added bonus. Eddie’s on stage banter is great as ever too.
Tomorrow I don’t have many plans…..Wednesday I meeting up with Kerrie, and Thursday hooking up with an old friend who I’ve not seen much of for the last couple of years, could be a bit of a reunion of sorts which should be interesting.
The weeks keep flying by at the moment, which I suppose is a good thing. It’ll be Christmas before I know it and I’ll need to be buying loads of presents…..I’m already planning! Still if time is flying, it must be because I’m enjoying myself, right?
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I can’t believe you’ve never had a vanilla latte before. Poor poor James. You don’t need a Starbucks, you need the best Starbucks barista in the whole world! I’ll pack my bags and wait wait patiently by my mailbox for the plane tickets.