less inspirational

What a nightmare...

2008-09-02T16:25:00.004Z

I keep having dreams that I'm having to go back at my old job. I keep waking up in a proper panic.

I cannot believe how much I hated my last job in comparison to where I am now, in a way though, I'm actually quite thankful, because even though I'm being woken up in the small hours of the morning with my heart pounding and a cold sweat, when i have to come into work in the morning everything seems ok, beacuse I can thank my stars I'm not back there.

More London gripes...

2007-12-06T13:38:00.000Z

1. Men too tall for tube trains, who, after forcing their way onto the remaining 0.001mm left between the door and the back of the next person, proceed to bend, palm tree-style over the backs of the shorter people around them.

2. people who don't make room when there is room and then proceed to tsk as you try and fit into the tiny gap they have left for you.

3. People who insist on reading large hardback books.

4. People, usually inhabiting the same group as people specified in point 3 who in reading aformentioned hardback book (though this also includes newspapers and paperbacks) insist on continually elbowing you in the ribs and looking distainful if you have the audacity to accidentally fall towards them during an unexpected train judder.

5. Feeling like I should be doing more interesting things but generally too tired to go out after work because of facing commute home. Missed out on seeing the one and only Dan Sartain last night because of migraine. Hate my useless body.

I think this will do for now.

In other news it is now officially December and my mum has begun her annual panic about christmas presents largely fuelled by a fear of asking my dad to go shopping, and secondly by a complete inability to know what she should buy him anyway.

I am looking forward to christmas because there isn't anything else to look forward to at the moment and am finding the buying of presents incredibly fulfilling (managing not to think about bank balance... ignorance is bliss)

Since I last wrote in October:

1. Boy got job. First job ever. First job after university. £2k a year higher salary than me. Is it because I am a girl or am I just doing something very wrong?

2. Fireworks party at the boy's house. Lit my first firework ever... momentous occasion. Generally not very safety conscious, luckily no-one killed.

3. My birthday. Quarter century. Say no more.

4. Arcade Fire. Alexandra Palace. Very pretty and lots of singing.

5. Donna's birthday! Isle of Wight. Lots of alcohol. Hangover and ferry do not mix.

6. Month now December. Nearly 2008. 4 years since uni. Strange and worrying.

7. Need to purchase new notebook. Annoying I can't write thoughts down somewhere.

I actually had a christmas lunch on Monday which was a little strange, it was good fun though. It was with the British Society of Magazine Editors and got tons of free stuff :D Connor McNicholas (editor of the NME) was sat just behind me, but I didn't have the guts to speak to him let alone ask for a job... could have got a scoop on Morrissey. Damn.

Ok ok ok.

Bye

I'm still alive! (But nearly wan't)

2007-10-12T14:26:00.000Z

Hey guys, lots to write, it's been a while... lots has been going on but I suppose I am really writing for one reason.

Yesterday I ended up in hospital with an anaphylaxic reaction after eating a veggie burger.

I was in Brighton at a conference with work and we went to the pub at lunch and I ordered a veggie burger without thinking and it was full of different types of nuts (though it didn't say this on the menu), I ate about 1/3 of a burger before I realised and ended up in the back of an ambulance attached to all sorts of things and kinda freaking out.

Its a really long story which I can't really bring myself to write being as I went over it about a million times in my head and to various people yesterday (adrenaline doesn't half make you chatty..)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it was a bit of a wake up call for me being as I always play it down or laugh it off, I need to let all you guys know that it is serious and get you, if possible, if you are out at dinner with me, to nag me and make me be sensible. Also I should always be carrying antihisthamine and my epi pen, I will show some of you how to use my pen just in case you ever need to, but I really really really hope you wont.

Thanks guys, speak soon.

xxxx

Time control...

2007-08-23T12:48:00.000Z

My mum went out and inexplicably purchased what I have now titled...

"THE WIERDEST TOOTHPASE IN THE WORLD... EVER!"

Colgate have, for some reason, brought out a toothpaste which controls time! According to the packaging it provides "Everyday protection against time"

Yes my friends, simply brush your teeth with this little beauty and you will have the power to erase sleeping with that ugly person the one who never called again, or even stop yourself having drunk so much that fateful evening.

It is a little known fact but the delorian was actually coated in this toothpaste which, when it reaches a certain speed, can take you back to the moment your parents met... ahhhh.

Either that or Colegate are talking out of their arses. I can't decide which... and people actually buy this stuff?!? Mother!

And another thing!

2007-08-15T12:27:00.000Z

Men with um-"look how big mine is!"-berellas who swing them with the point backwards who are subconciously so annoyed by how small their penis is that they have to stab people in the knees.

They annoy me too.

Things that have been annoying me.

2007-08-14T12:14:00.000Z

I have been working in london for just over two months now and there are a number of things that are really getting my goat, they are:

1) Men (always in business suits) who lean on me on the tube. Excuse me! I am half your size, idiot! Do you really think that I can support your fat neck let alone the rest of you? Take your sodding Tag Heuer watch and stocks and shares and shove them up your fat backside to form some kind of propping device so that you dont have to lean on me!

2) People who pull along those stupid wheely suitcases on the tube. Blissfully unaware of the carnage they are leaving in their wake they trundle along, you have tripped up the entire northern line, get a clue! The thing about these bags is that they trail so far behind the person pulling it that they forget that they have it there, also because they are at shin level they are hard to see but perfect level for giving you a dead leg.

3) People who push me into the path of the people above.

4) Having to explain to people that, yes, I live in Sandy, and yes, I do have to get a train, and no, it doen't really take that long and I wouldn't bloody be doing it if there were jobs in Bedford would I?! I swear if one more person cocks their head and looks at me in that pitying way one more time!

And that is all I can think of for now.

There will definately be more though.

So yeah, at the weekend I went to Field Day festival with the boy and Donna and Becky, and it was good and sunny thought it has been getting really bad press for the fact that there were only two bars and not enough toilets so everyone ended up queing for almost the entirity of the festival. I missed the entire of bat for lashes set as was queing for the loo.

Yes it was annoying, and most people went early, but at least the organisers have emailed everyone to apologise, that's quite sweet.

And I got to see Gryff Rhys which was pretty much the most important person there for me, even though his set seemed really short. Also saw The Aliens, some of the Archie Bronson Outfit, anf Justice, who were cool.

Afterwards myneself anf the girls went to the Underworld in Camden, where some fucker out somethin gin Don's drink.

Thankfully she saw him do it and so we made a swift exit home, but seriously, really what the hell is the world coming to?!?

So girlies, please be careful, buy bottles and all that.

Peace out! lolz

Whoo! Alright - Yeah... Uh-Huh.

2007-07-31T09:59:00.000Z

Oh my gosh!

We got back from a very eventful benicassim slash Barcelona holidays, in one piece... well, just abouts.

Our story begins on Monday the 16th og July in ''year of our lord 2007...

We arrived in Barcelona really late because our flight was delayed by over two hours, thus we missed the train that I had booked for 7pm and spent a good couple of hours wandering around Sants station trying to get someone to stamp our ticket to say that we hadn't travelled so that we could try and get our money back from sleazyjet.

we then decided that we would have to get a coach, but the last coach left at 9.30 and at that time we were still queing for our tickets, so we had to settle for a coach at 8.30 the next morning, meaning we then either had to stay up all night or find somewhere to sleep.

As such we ended up in a 4* hotel just outside of the station forking out over E450 for 4 twin rooms between us. We went to a pizzaria for dinner all like zombies, then went to bed, got up and caught the bus early the next morning...

Eventually we arrived in Castellon and then Benicassim, and the campsite was already full so we had to pitch our tents and kids size gazebo in a small patch surrounded by rowdy and downright horrible racist bigotted idiot twathead scotsmen.

Then Ali got sunstroke, and then there was an impromtu rave in the campsite and then the boy bought earplugs and everything was dandy :D not very rock n roll but hey.

So yes then we had a few very late nights, saw some amazing bands and I am trying desperately to write everything up for gigwise at the moment as the other reviewer had all her stuff stolen and had to go home before the festival even began, which was rubbish. But good for me as I am now sole reviewer, but bad for me as it is a lot of writing and I have no time to do it in!!

Then we went off to Barcelona where myself and the boy were staying in a very brilliant and hip hotel next to the Agbar tower, however my brother got pick-pocketed on the metro and lost all his money and cards, and was going to Paris the next day!

So myself and the boy had to give him all our money, leaving us with no money and hving to beg from my mum! It was highly enjoyable!!

Still we had a good time and took lots of photos, a lot of which are on facebook, and i guess that is all i have to say for now...

Cheerio!

It's been a long time #2

2007-07-04T12:15:00.001Z

But I came back to finish what I started.

Have been meaning to blog in ages and somehow haven't managed to find the time, not that my life is that exciting. What prompted me to blog was that I saw policemen with big guns in kings cross station this morning and it shook me up a little, need to reshuffle, take stock a little.

Its wierd but at 8am on a tuesday morning when you've merrily been sipping from your newly aquired trainspotters flask/mug of tea and thinking about nothing at all you can snap back into a horrible reality very quickly. I am a worrier and it's hard to get on the tube at times, but have to keep telling myself "I am not my dad" no, I am not my dad.

So I thought I would write, no purpose, no nothing, facebook has taken over my blog life now, immediate updates, now now now, pictures pictures pictures. No need for all this incesant incoherant babble. But I do like the babbling. Should eb an artform, like pottering.

So I got me a job, yes I did. Am now a Publishing Assistant, hence the being in Kings Cross at 8am with a thermos and hence the general London-on-edge-ness of this ramble. I am working for a contract publishing company and it is interesting in places.

Though someone asked me what a Publishing Assistant does the other day and I couldn't tell them... I do admin, research stuff on t'internet and sometimes I think of ideas for magazines and things and they aren't immediately rejected, or rejected politely at least. I send marketing letters, which I secretly dispise but understand that it has to be done. At least it's not cold calling. get in a whole half hour earlier than I need to and rarely have an hours lunch and nobody notices. I guess thats what a Publishing Assistant does.

Since working full time again time seems to have sped up and it is now less than 2 weeks untill benicassim! woo, have been waiting for it for so long!

I can't believe half of the year is over already, soon I will be 25 and soon it will be christmas. Everyone is doing their own things becoming teachers and designing webpages and seeing boyfriends and I have lost all of my weekends between home and Lincoln and the boys house (though he is home now, and with a 2:1 in his back pocket). I never seem to get any writing done anymore, though I did interview Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Windmill, though the windmill interview is yet to materialise.

It is impossible to look back on the year and try to work out what you have been doing (thus making retrospective blogging incredibly boring for anyone who may stumble across it) temping really messes up my notions of time because no week is the same and you never know where you're going to be, what you're going to earn, if you be lumbered with 4 tons of filing or have nothing to do, but I don't think it has been an awful year. I think the rest of it will be better when I start earning money again and get things back to normal. I am looking forward to having Cath living closer and Becky back in London seeing some more friends who aren't the boy's friends.

I guess this is the end of my babble, I enjoyed it anyway.

Woo hell yeah!

2007-03-02T20:37:00.000Z

What a line up!!

yo yo yo, safe blud!

2007-01-31T14:22:00.000Z

The majority of you willl have recieved this email... you should have, either with or without sexy mozza picture (joke!)

Please please please think about it.. I know its only january but tomorrow it will be february! then march then april and then... well.. you know.

Loads of love
Sam

Happy New Year!

2007-01-04T11:27:00.001Z

How was everybody's christmas and new year then eh? I had a blinder and got spoilt rotten, was great :) NYE went and got drunken in bedford, was fun, and at least I didnt make any expensive resolutions to go galavanting off around the world this year :D

So its 2007 and I hate January because its always a little scary seeing the whole year laid bare in front of you and with nothing planned to do with it... this time last year I was organising to go to Oz, how weird is that?!

So what are tha plans for 2007? I have no idea.... keep trying to get a job... keep failing maybe...

Myself and the boy have booked our flights to Barcelona for Benicassim festival yes yes I know its a long way off but it pays to be organised, plus I need something to look forward to through these cold months :D

So we are definately going, just the two of us at the moment but we are hoping that lots of you will be joining us :) go awn you know you wanna! Please come, lets get a big group of us and buy a gazebo!! woo yeah!

Just in case anyone is interested the dates for camping are from 16/07/07 to 23/07/07. The festival is on the 19th to the 22nd. *Here is the website*

Our flights have set us back just £77 each, and the tickets are currently costing around £112... cheeeeeeep eh?!?

So anyway, on other news. I havent seen anyone in ages so perhaps we should arrange some kind of a get together soon? On other other news, Donna has majorly hurt her back and had to go to hospital where they gave her morphine and painkilers and missed NYE, so please send her your loves.

Ok den, I shall go... See Below for some pictures of My Christmas and NYE, Byes!

CHRISTMASSSSSS...

This is a pic of Brother Splatt and the abstract Balloon Model what we maked after our Christmas dinner... Its a hat...

Mum models abstract balloon hat... reluctently...

NEW YEARS EVE
NYE was spent at Johns house, with a table full of booze and a shisha pipe...

John Ali and Ben

Ali looking very ill after drinking an entire bottle of Dissarono to himself... enjoy responsibly kids!

John Clearing up Ali's sick... nice!

Woah scary...

2006-12-20T14:19:00.000Z

LessInspirational has had a makeover... its a bit dodgy, but it will do for now.

bugger bugger bugger bugger...

2006-12-13T09:16:00.000Z

So that job I kept under my hat for hex purposes, was the position of Junior Reporter at the Beds on Sunday newspaper, and I didn't get it.

Though they did tell me that I "came second" and that if it all goes wrong with the person they've offered it to then they'll look me up, which is a bloody great consolation. Still they did tell me that nearly 100 people applied so I guess I should be happy for something. Just have to reassess everything again now. Back to the drawing board... (this blog makes it sound like I'm far less upset than I really am...)

As for Miss Winehouse, well she was lovely! Very articulate and very talkative. Much less gobby than people make out on the telly and in the news, really was nice. She told me all about her boyfriend troubles... ah, we're mates now me and Amy! haha! Some quotes from the interview are already up on Gigwise but the whole interview will be up soon, keep your eyes peeled and let me know what you think :) Here is something that the interview doesnt mention though, when I was leaving, and I was waiting for a lift, Amy was in the loo opposite, singing her heart out while she was in there, ah, so sweet! The girl is obviously so passionate. Brilliant :)

I have also finished my features journalism course, which is cool and means that I have my saturday's back for a while!

Ok well enough for now I guess, hopefully i will see a lot of people over christmas, I miss everyone loads xxxx

big hair... drink problem... sounds like a big fat black lady but looks slightly like she might be homeless... or at least from Camden...

2006-12-01T13:25:00.000Z

I've only got an interview with Amy Winehouse!

Next friday for Gigwise.com ah cant wait! its gonna be brill-yant!

I've also got an interview lined up for a job that I really want, but I'm not going to say too much about because I dont want to hex myself...

Still working in London for now. So depressed that no-one is getting in touch via the medium of commenting or email. shame on you all.

I go now. Back to work, Its flippin' friday! wheeeeeeeeeeee!

Well...

2006-11-19T17:23:00.000Z

Since I last blogged I have been a busy monkey...

I spent another brilliant week at Toast press which was exciting and fun, I heard the new Klaxons album, its literally only just been recorded and not out till February so that was pretty damn exciting, plus its really good cannae wait till its out...

Then it was my birthday! Happy birthday to me eh? Is it really a year since we were all partying our socks off? Blimey, I dont know where the year has gone, its been a pretty amazing one...

Still the lovely Donbon, the mad-dad-dancing-Paul and the boy did come to bedford and we did drink and spill drinks and generally have a great time in tha pad!

Then I landed meself a job! wooooooo! I think I would have taken anything at that point because I was literally going mad with boredom and frustration. So I am a receptioning in London just outside of Liverpool street station and a Molton Brown shop... ah the temptation! It was pretty boring at first but after 2 days there they offered me a full time job which was nice, I didnt take it though, so I will currently just be temping for them over christmas and until they get a replacement.

The deputy chairman (Geoff Morrow)is a songwriter (he wrote songs for Elvis! rock n roll eh!?!) and writer and music producer though, so he is a good person to know!

I have also started a course on saturdays at the University of the Arts in London, in Features Journalism which is good but means that I havent got so much time at the weekends now... but it is really useful and will look good on my CV which is what matters really right now.

I have also had a couple more major things published, one in The Comet, which is a local paper and then another on Gigwise both of which I am pretty pleased with.

I have also reached a breakthrough as I'm being sent CDs from record companies to be considered for review on The Scene website and have reviewed The Dykeenies and The Sounds already, which are online. The only thing is that I am now being inundated and dont have enough time to listen and review them all which is a little frustrating... there just doesnt seem to be enough time in the week!

So yes, thats me up to date the main thing is, I am getting paid for something now so christmas will be a little more fun! haha!

Messages for people!

Cath - how is everything? I AM going to write you a letter and send you a streets lighter soon I promise!

Kelly D - How is the new house? email update please!!

Rhiannon - Rhiannon! Rhi! Rhiannon!!? Are you home?! How the devil are you?! Does it feel like a tropical climate here?!? haha! email me asap tell me all, or give me a ring, I'm not too busy to catch up!

Well this will do, if anyone is passing london and wants to get some lunch or meet after work for a drink, let me know, or or or I am constantly getting free tickets for gigs that I cant go to cos I have no mates(!!) if you wanna come to any then give me a bell!

Ok ok I'm going! Bye!

Raaaaugh!

2006-11-04T15:39:00.000Z

Sometimes I annoy myself!

Today I had the absolutely mental idea of doing a music search on myspace to find all the bands for each genre in every country...

So, what I decided was this. You search 'All Genres' for each country down the list, using 'Music' as your Keyword (as simple as I could think) and 'Influences' as your search criteria.... then you see what you come up with...

I started a spreadsheet and everything. But it doesnt help that bands and artists can put up to three genres on their page, which makes it harder to search. Bands regularly post that they are from completely different countries. Also what other information could you get? The amount of bands with record contracts? The number of members in a band? The number of friends? Add to this the fact that approximately 20,000 people are being added to MySpace everyday, this means that any information gathered would just be almost immediately redundant. My idea is obviously frought with complexities and I have done my head in trying to figure out a way to make it work.

I also got bored around Columbia.

I did turn up something interesting though. Searching for music in Afghanistan, there were 12 bands or artists... only 1 of which was actually from Afghanistan, 10 were from the USA and 1 was from the UK. One of these artists, from Pittsburgh USA listed their primary Genre as 'Christian'.

And I found a lovely little Rockabilly band called Adam & his Nuclear Rockets, from Croatia of all places...

I clearly have too much time on my hands.

So yes I'm still chuffing unemployed (3 weeks now!) and seem to be getting nowhere however heard I try, loads of places will give me work but nowhere wants to pay me. I cant even get a receptionist job because I'm not a "career receptionist" I mean how stupidly depressing is that?!

On the up side I am going back to Toast Press next week for a week which will be good.

I've also started writing for the holy grail of music magazines The Bedfordshire On Sunday!

Haha! Actually its quite good, I searched out a local Band who I think are going to get pretty big , they are called Look See Proof and I approached them for an interview. So on wednesday night I found myself sat in The Fly Bar in Laaahndan town with some pretty boys talking about music, bliss!

I wrote a review of their little gig and what is now on the Bedfordshire/Milton Keynes on Sunday website which has a little mini site called The Scene I am also going to be involved in that, getting albums and singles to review for them. I sourced that myself through my PR contacts and they are being sent directly to my house! (wooo free music, beautiful!) so I will actually be doing a kind of editorial thing as I will be deciding what is worth reviewing. Its a step up, but again, no pay so we'll see.

Hopefully my feature on The Rank Deluxe will be in the December issue of Disorder magazine, and I am having a short piece on Look See Proof in either the January or February issue... still writing for Gigwise.com which is good...

If anyone hears of any jobs going, my god please! let me know! I'm going kerayzeeeee!

Its my birthday next week, if anyone fancies a raucous night out in Bedford let me know! haha!

Hello ladies! and the occasional gentleman...

2006-10-06T13:23:00.000Z

How is everybody, it has been a long time and i havent really been very good at updddating so i thought i would write some for you, let you know about the life of Sam, and anything else i can think of...

So i quit my job which was pretty sad but had to be done... it was gettting too hectic and sapping all of my energy, so i started calling every number i could find for music pr companies on press releases that i'd recieved from disorder, which is how i wound up here, in an office in brixton working as an intern for Toast Music Press.

Basically i'm doing things like taking press cuttings for our artists which means i get to read magazines all morning! Then I've been calling and emailing loads of magazines and stuff.

Its all pretty exciting. They look after the Klaxons and The Streets, Basement Jaxx also loads of other cool artists, its a little bit hectic at times but really interesting, and exciting, especially when Klaxons made the cover of the NME the other day. Ruth Drake is the Press Officer here and is very cool, yesterday she sat in on an interview with Mike Skinner and Pete Doherty, i was quite excited as it was supposed to be taking place in our offices, but in the end they went somewhere else, but.. pete actually did turn up! who'da thunk it eh? though apparently he started puking his guts up in the middle of the interview... nice... haha there's one you wont geton popbitch!!

So overall its really interesting, but i have a long way to go i think! Am thinking of applying to do more intern stuff and maybe gettingsome kind of career development loan to cover some expenses as i'm not being paid, though i have nabbed enough CD and Vinyls to sink a small ship... including a special limited release white label of Spank Rock 'Bump' ahhhhhhrugh sooooo goooood!

As goes everyone else, well as far as I'm aware everyone seems dandy.

Rhiannon is about to go off a galavanting around europe to make a film about volenteering with EVS which is very very exciting and i am proud to call her my friend as i think she is very clever.

I think Cath will have enrolled on her PGCE by now... Cath GET IN TOUCH!!

Donna has enrolled and seems happy and stuffs.

Becky has had to move to weston as london can no longer afford to have her! She is working and thinking of moving to Bristol... yes yes... indie fest.

and monkey just had her birthday and is having a bash on... um... tomorrow! Unfortunately i cannot make it as i'm no longer being paid! But its bound to be very special.

So basically this blog was to say, get talking people! Everyone has been far too lazy in keeping in touch, its not on i tells ya!!

loads of love all

Moi xxx

RIP steve...

2006-09-04T17:02:00.000Z

for all you who dont know, steve 'crikey' irwin passed away today...

death by stingray... hardly the coolest animal eh?

TDK Cross Central

2006-08-31T17:22:00.000Z

where we did go...

we did go to round the back of the kings cross stationa all hidden away in railway freight depots for listening to the bands and djs and drinking of the overpriced beers all night long!

We did see the brilliant and amazing spank rock and then the oh so un so simley ladytron and then waited for over an hour for hot chip to play a decidedly dodgy set... though it was really very exciting and we did have lots of fun....

we three in tha bar of overpriced wifebeaterbeers...

A Pimms Encounter of the second kind...

2006-07-23T19:51:00.000Z

here be the pictures of our pimms outing, thankfully it wasnt rained off despite our fears and we had a wuvverly times. Also I am very sorry for the quality of the photos, both myself and rhiannon took a few and precicely all of them came out blurry, is it the camera settings? or is it due to the amount of Pimms and Absolut that was consumed? I couldnt possibly say...

punk milou

aw, my lovely lady friends...

blurry at the train station...

that would be me then...

J'habite en Anglettere...

2006-06-18T10:02:00.000Z

Bonjour tous le monde!

I have returned to the land of england, where hooliganism is rife and everything seems to be in white and red... its all very disorientating.

I got back on tuesday despite telling my family that it would be wednesday so I arrived at the airport with nobody to greet me... it was all very strange...

So yeah, uhm, I havent done very much since my return just chilling out and have been catching up with my family and the boy, anyway, the purpose of this blog was mainly to say that i have put some more pictures up for you to peruse, and that we should all get together for donna's pimms picnic mark two! (details to follow!) wooooo, its good to be back! its good to be back!

Oh! And here are some more pictures for you of Cairns and stuff... byeeeeeeee!

my tour around cairns, with the old ladies!

bombing competition!

just for donna... my japanese loo...!

awwwwww

2006-06-05T22:56:00.000Z

...would you believe that my australian adventure is almost at an end? rubbish!

so here's an update! I went to Mackay and it was the most awful hostel I have encountered in the whole of australia... the people there had been having a party, the whole place reeked of alcohol breath, there was a semi naked couple on the sofa in the common area... just... urugh... no... I have since met 5 people who stayed there and all of them left after one night because it was so awful. Some people had food stolen, most people didnt get all their money back. We are going to complain, especially as the woman refused to give my money back when I said I didnt want to stay another night, she said its like that in every YHA and it bloody well is not!

so anyway, I got the hell out of there as soon as I could, and jumped on a bus bound for Arlie Beach, which is lovely! Its like a proper little seaside town, except its also a bit of a death trap, you cant swim in the sea as you will die by jellyfish... they are evil little buggers!

horrible jellyfishies

To make up for it though they have a "lagoon" which is basically a nice swimming pool on the side of the beach... overall arlie is a bit of a party town at night but during the day is totally laid back and I totally enjoyed it.

the lagoon at arlie beach...

some dancing in arlie beach...

Then I went sailing for 3 days and 2 nights around the Whitsunday islands, which was really nice and sunny, it is very pretty and we went to whitehaven beach which is just stunning. we also went snorkelling and I saw lots of very big very bright coloured fishes.

putting up the sail...

some whitsunday people...

my boat and the sunset over the whitsunday islands...

Then I returned to Arlie and had a day to relax before getting back on the bus for another 10 hour trip to Cairns, where I am now, yesterday I just had a bt of a look around, but today I am going a tour and seing some things before I fly back to Sydney, back to the cold, tomorrow!

So I will be flying home on monday and will eventually arrive on wednesday afternoon! On the plus side I found out that my hotel in Osaka is 5* so i am looking forward to stealing the posh shower gels! haha!

talk soon, see you soon!
Love, me xxxxxxxxxx

Hey :)

2006-05-29T07:25:00.000Z

Just watch out guys because i keep getting annonymous comment postings, make sure you dont click on them cos its some spammer ok? i am trying to delete them but there seem to be quite a few. yeah so dont click on them.. god knows what might happen!

Hey!

2006-05-25T23:23:00.000Z

Hey guys! I'm back to tell you what I have been up to!

So myself and Lisa went to movieworld and it was ace with lots of very fast rollercoasters and I even got my picture taken with batman!!

Well From Brisbaine I went to a very small place called Maroochydore, with the sole purpose of getting one of the free busses to australia zoo! Which i did, and it was cool, I saw the snake show, the bird show, the tiger show...

and of course, the crocodile show!

Then I had my picture taken with a baby aligator, which was very cool as I've wanted to do that since I saw Terry Nutkins doing it on the really wild show when I was about 10! haha! And I saw Harriet...

Harriet... the very old tortoise at australia zoo... previous owner... Charles Darwin... no joke...

Then the next day I caught a bus to Hervey Bay, where I had 2 days, of intermittant sunshine!! well, just about long enough to take this picture!

And then I went over to Fraser island which is the biggest sand island in the world.

The first day we went to a couple of lakes and did a rainforest walk but it was cold so only the insane people in the group actually swam! So we were about to do this rainforest walk and the tour guide Peter was telling us about the many species of poisonus spider and snakes and what to do if you get bitten (not run around like a mad thing aparently) or what to do if you see a dingo so that you dont get maulled to death (keep eye contact and try to make yourself look bigger?!?!) So peter is describing the funnel web spider and explaining that they can jump 30cms and that you literally have hours to live if one gets you... oh and they live in holes in the ground. so we're all walking through the rainforest in shorts and flip flops and there are hundresd of holes in the ground... was prertty scary!

I did see a spider, but apparently it was a less poisonus one... which is reassuring...

What else... oh yeah we had a pippy mussell race, where you dig them out of the sand, then you put them back down on the wet sand and they dig themselves back in... as per Mr Crabby Mc Crabcrab my mussell didnt move... a muscle.

Oh yeah thats the other thing, you cant swim in the sea or else you will die a horrible sharky death... the tiger sharks breed around there... or you might get caught in a rip... seriously, the place is a death trap!

We climbed Indian Head and i saw a stingray but it wasnt too clear... oh yeah and we saw dingoes from the safety of the bus!

a dingo! "...never wink at a dingo... never flirt with a dingo... they dont like it."

Because the island is made of sand you have to be in a 4X4 and one of the main highways, purely because it is flat and pretty solid, is the beach, so you go racing up the beach, there is even a scenic flight in a small plane that takes off from the beach... its quite special.

Eli Creek, and 75 mile beach...

intrepid explorers crossing the creek... watch out for eels!

On the last day we went to lake Wabby which is surrounded by the most massive sand dunes ever and is bright green, it is really beautiful but looks totally like something out of star wars or another space based thing, we ran and jumped off the dunes which is very scary but brilliant because you always have a soft landing.

So yes, thats my Fraser Island adventure. It was pretty special. now I am having a bit of a rest in Hervey Bay before I shoot off to Mackay tonight... another 12 hour trip, joy of joys...

This blog will get illustrated at somepoint so keep your eyes peeled.

I'm home soon!! Byeeeeeee xxxxxxxxxxx

Stuff!

2006-05-16T06:52:00.000Z

Hello! I am currently in Brisbaine it is hot (though not too hot) and good... it is tiny here but I like it a lot, there is a beautiful river with nice cafes and a sweet shop! And there is a fake beach on the bank of the river, it has sand and everything!

this be the fake beach, you can just see the river behind, and then the fair city of Brisbane!

my pet geko, we met in brisbane, he was hiding in my jumper...

I have met a nice girl called Lisa who is from Melbourne and is a nurse, her dad loves in Noosa so she is here for a couple of weeks working, but we are going to movieworld together tomorrow. It will be cool.

So I guess I should update you on what I have been up to... well I spent a week just mooching in Sydney and seeing Tory who was totally on a high as she got her visa through so she can officially live in Oz now! On the saturday we had a bbq at the flat, which turned into an unofficial australia day, with flags and tattoos and everything!

Then I went off on my own to Coffs Harbour, which is a very beautiful place, walked a very steep slope to muttonbird island and then walked up the creek through a mangrove forest. Unfortunately there was hardly anyone there being as it is out of season now so I only stayed for 2 days before moving on to Byron Bay.

I stayed in a place called the Arts Factory which is an ex hippy commune and is very cool that the MonkeyBoolin reccomended to me and it was great! Cheers Monka! I was sleeping in a place called the pentagon that I am willing to bet president Bush would never set foot in. It was basically a teepee and my bed was made with big tree trunks, it was very cold at night, and I had to buy a jumper being as I left all my warm stuff in sydney with tory! But there was something ultimately satisfying about waking up in the teepee :) Oh and dad, my sleeping bag was amazing, so thank you!

The view from my teepee!

I spent 3 days there with the hippies, and looked around the shops and walked an even steeper walk to Cape Byron lighthouse which is the most easterly point of Australia it was flippin hard work! But I felt so good... knackered, but good... once i'd done it...

and I rewarded myself by having a massive lunch!! haha!

So then I moved on to Brisbaine, where I am now! I leave here on thursday to go to a place called Maroochidore so that I can visit australia zoo! Am totally hoping to catch a glimpse of the legend that is Mr Steve Irwin!! haha! Oh and see some crocodiles!

So that is everything, just about, so far. I hope everyone is well, things seem to be happening at home what with Cath going off to Sri Lanka and Donna moving to chichester... wherever that is... anyways, love you all loads, email me guys, i'm missing you!! TTFN xxx

More fiji!!

2006-05-01T01:39:00.000Z

Its gonna take a long time to say all that I have done on the islands as I've been one busy monkey, I have managed to...

1. See all of the fish from finding nemo... and a puffer fish!

2. I have been fishing... and caught one!

3. I have fallen alseep in numerous hammocks!

a hammock!

4. I have put away substantial amounts of fiji bitter, fiji gold and fiji export beer!

5. I have met some of the nicest and funniest guys in the world...

left to right Baz, Ant, Brownie, and Nugget... drinking fiji export!

brownie and nugget

Coralie, Jenny, Baz and Ant

6. I have slept in a tent on the beach under the stars after they over booked one resort and told us we didnt have a bed...

my tent... delightful eh?

7. I have been to the island where the film "castaway" with Tom Hanks was filmed which is uninhabited and beautiful... and the snorkelling was amazing.

the island where castaway was filmed

beautiful snorkelling at beautiful island...

8. I have been on a sailing cruise, where all drinks were free and the first thing they did was give me a glass of champeign... oh and we had a bbq which, after the very simple food at most of the places where I stayed was bloody brilliant...

this would be me on the seaspray and i'm not trying to do a nautical salute, merely sheilding my eyes!

8. I have seen gekos and butterflies and spiders and cool birds and crabs and had a crab race, in which my crab (Mr. Crabby McCrabCrab)lost...

9. I have drank some kava and watched some traditional dancing...

me drinking kava...

10. I have been bitten to buggery!

grosness to the max... my elephantitis foot!!

11. I have stayed on one island that you could walk round in about 10 minutes and which the guys kayaked round in about 15...

ant and baz kyaking aroung the island

12. I have shouted "bula!" to countless locals...

some singing locals

13. I have seen some of the most beautiful scenery that I have ever seen, and it has been wonderful...

a beautiful sunset... one of many... well... 10... that I saw..

hope these pictures make you all suitably jealous!!

loadsa love everyone, miss you still! MooMa I'll call you soon! xxxxx

FIJI!!

2006-04-18T06:02:00.000Z

bula! i just wrote a whole lot of stuff and the computer lost it damn it!!

i was saying that fiji is great... the hostel is nice and there aree lots of english people so i have been talking to loads of them... some girls even left me a 3rd of a bottle of vodka when they left today, very nice of them! everyone in fiji is lovely! the locals are so ,laid back!

on thursday i went into the capital nadi (which is tiny!!) with two guys i met, tara and dan they are on a gap year before uni, we got invited to a kava ceremony. kava is the national drink here and the locals drink it almost constantly. it is made from the crushed roots of a kava plant which is in the same family as pepper plants, and they mix it with water in a big bowl. basically you all sit around in a circle on a straw mat and take it in turns to down a coconut shell of the stuff... i have read that it is seen as rude to refuse so i kinda had to but it is not nearly as bad as everyone makes out, though after 5 cups your mouth does go pretty numb! apparently in the villages kava addiction is quite a problem and if you drink enough of the stuff it can have the same properties as dope, which might explain "fiji time" ! nothing is rushed here... everything just happens when it does.. but i like that about the place...

yesterday i didnt do anything i just sat by the pool all day, i was doing all right but have actually got totally sunburnt on the tops of my legs and i'm not too happy about it... our hostel has a pool too so i had a swim. last night they had a band play and traditional fijian/polynesian dance here which was cool.

today i have so far done much the same, just being lazy before i go out to the islands tomorrow, that and the fact that i need for my sunburn to go down because if i got burnt again today i cant imagine how painful that would be!!oh and i've been bitten to buggery all over my poor feet, they have swollen up like 99 red balloons and it is both irritating and painful... the insect repellant that i was reccommended isnt helping at all and antihistamine arent stopping the itching... seriously, i'm close to my wits end!!

ok so thats basically what i've been up to, obviously i'm not going to have internet access on the islands (they even turn the electricity off at 10pm!) so i will have to update you when i am back at the hostel next sunday, i'm really looking forward to seeing the islands though as the beach here isnt too great, very dark fine sand, anyway i'm gonna go now hope everyone is good, am still missing you all

loads of love
xxxx

Awwww

2006-04-14T02:19:00.000Z

I had a really nice day yesterday, i went and met Miranda who stayed in my room one night this week, she is english but has come to melbourne to do her PhD! we went to a very swanky hot chocolate cafe called max brenner. i had a hot chocolate where you have hot milk over a candle and add your own chocolate buttons which melt... it is like drinking liquid chocolate... yuuuuum!

then last night i went to see ross noble at melbourne town hall and it was exceedingly funny wish i could stay for more of the comedy festival... oh well... maybe next year! haha!

so that is all from melbourne... my spiritual home! i travel back to sydney tonight... and fly out to fiji on thursday woooooo!! cant wait!

loadsa love guys missing you all badly xxxx

Woooeeeee

2006-04-07T06:34:00.000Z

so i finally got lots of pictures put onto a compact disk... 550 in fact, here are just a few of them! enjoy! miss you all lots xxxxxx

My trip up the great ocean road...

2006-04-07T06:08:00.000Z

these are the pictures from that infamous trip...

on t'great ocean road.

the 12 or however many apostles... 8 i think... and some rubble cos one fell down not long ago...

that would be me at the 12 apostles. i have another picture like this one but i am not smiling and actually look like the most miserable cow in the universe, it is very funny actually.

it was quite windy and wet.

Melbourne!

2006-04-07T05:54:00.000Z

Melbourne!

So now here i am in Melbourne, it is lovely here! i have been her for 2 weeks and am finally going back to sydney on the 15th april for to catch a plane to fiji. i'm seeing ross noble on thursday night too, dylan moran is here too but alas he is all sold out damn him! the weather is pretty rubbish as they are just getting into autumn here now but it was slightly warmer today, i guess it means i will enjoy fiji all the more, and besides, it feels like england, so thats cool in my book. melbourne is nice, i would like to live here...

a tram!

me up the rialto tower, check that view!

scary melbourne gaol!

the gaol is very scary because loads of people got hung in it and there are loads of ghost stories, also two of my roommates nearly got lockedin there last week as it was near closing time and they were in one of the cells and whoever was locking up didnt see them! gees that would be terrifying!

docklands park and the beautiful wind sculpture

that wind sculpture is utterly beautiful, i spent nearly an hour just staring at it, all of the prong things move round in the wind and at different speeds depending on how fast the wind is going, plus all the light bounces off the circular bits, and it makes a soft clanking sound when it moves, it is really mesmerising.

federation square

this shot is for rhiannon really as i first saw pictures of this building when she was doing her dissertation, so i wanted to show that i had been there, its an odd building, but i like it, i went to a museum there today but alas t'was closed, will have to go tomorrow...

fed square again

the cafe on the pier at st kilda

St kilda is nice it is like an old english seaside town and had loads of cake shops, when i ran away from marcus the dog boy, me and keef went to a cake shop and did scoff lots, it was great.

captain cooks cottage from the garden.

captain cooks cottage is a bit of a fraud really, it is an english house that apparently england gave australia "as a present" it isnt his actual house but "is thought to be" his parents house... its all a bit silly, still the garden is very pretty as you can see from the picture.

the obligatory ramsay street shot! haha!

unfortunately when i went to ramsay street they were filming so i didnt get to see anything at all... well i saw skye mangle from a distance... and the long haired one... and harold bishop... which was quite exciting, but not as exciting as i'd hoped...

The Wedding of the Century!

2006-04-07T05:49:00.000Z

i know that some of you have seen some of these pictures already but i thought i would post a couple of mine because they are lovely, aw... much crying...

Beautiful Tory, Jason and Gavin (Tory's dad)

cutting the cake

This is Sydney!

2006-04-07T05:44:00.000Z

I'm sorry this has taken so long to get up and going, apparently my camera can hold several hundred photos, anyway... this be sydney!

awwww isnt it beautiful?!

and this be t'opera house!

t'opera house! obviously

however, i found out that the opera house is not in fact made of tupperware as i first imagined, but has weird little tiles on it that are beige! beige!! the most hideous of all colours, the reason being, if it actually was white, on a bright day it would actually blind people. also these tiles are supposed to have the mysical quality of being able to clean themselves... which i'm sure you'll agree is quite special.

the illusion, shattered.

t'operahouse once again, this time taken from the ferry!

and this be the harbour bridge... i walked up to the top of this thing...wudyabalieve it?!

this be bondi beach... it was a little overcast but being british we still instisted on having a paddle...

Gavin, Jan and Julie on Bondi

flippin'ek

2006-04-06T23:09:00.000Z

well i have had an eventful couple of days,

on wednesday i went on a 2 day tour on the great ocean road which was... interesting... the road itself is beautiful but the weather left a bit to be desired, lourne and apollo bay are great tiny little seaside towns and i really liked them...

however! we made and unscheduled stop at a waterfall which was bloomin beautiful, however some scottish guys decided that we should walk on the rocks up the river to another falls, this is all well and good however i only had my canvas pumps on which got soaked through and on the way back i stepped on a slippery piece of tree and fell with my bum in a hole, i subsequently have two massive bruises on my right knee and have buggered my back up something rotten, which means that whenever i move my right leg it shoots a pain up my back it also hurts to turn. thankfully one of the irish girls helped me up and i was ok for about 5 mins and then started crying, because i didnt think i'd be able to make it back up all the steps. after about 20 mins i decided to make a go of it but it bloody hurt.

worse than this though, was the fact that i was covered in mud, my shoes were written off and i felt like an idiot for crying in front of a load of people i'd only just met.

when we got back to lourne i asked if we could stop and i bought the only pair of trainers in the shop that would fit me, and cried at the woman who worked there, she was understandably a bit miffed about the whole thing, so i had these horrible bright white trainers, but at least they were dry. and actually they worked out at 16 squids so it wasnt so bad...

then we carried on our journey along a very bendy road which really hurt my back, went to apollo bay and had dinner and stayed at the yha there which is very special as it is only a few months old and has a kitchen straight out of ikea...

the problem was that from this point on i became "the girl who fell over" and i very rarely had conversation directed at me other than "how are you feeling now/how is your head?/how is your back? etc etc" which really annoyed me.

then yesterday we went along the shipwreck coast and saw the 12... or 8 apostles, and london bridge and all that stuff which was really amazing but it was sooo windy it made it a bit more spectacular though as the waves were really amazing and you can easily understand why its called the shipwreck coast.

then we came home... a 3 hour drive, it was very tiring.

when i arrived back i realised that i had left the key to my locker with my pack in it at apollo bay, so i had to call them and see if they had it, which thankfully they did or i would have had to pay $50, then the guy at reception said that he would use their skeleton key to upen the locker for me, but the key didnt work! so i have no clean clothes, just my jeans that were covered in mud and the stuff i was wearing yesterday, hopefully a tour leader is bringing the key in this morning but so far i have heard nothing. when i got back last night i just cried and cried because for the first time since i have been out here i have felt like things are beyond my control and it totally freaked me out to the extent that i wanted to come home.

i still feel a little bit crap, mainly because i'm having to wear dirty clothes, but i am feeling mostly better today, my back is still hurting but i guess it'll get better, i just have to kill time now until i can get my stuff... i am sorry that this is the first blog that i have posted and it isnt particularly jolly but i needed to write it down. i have at least filled my memory card now so i should have some photos soon! woop.

missing everyone lots
love, me xxx

i'm in australia!

2006-03-25T00:06:00.000Z

for those of you who dont know, i'm currently in australia am hoping to fill up my memory card soon as i forgot my usb cable so canny put any pics online until i have them burnt to cd, i will take as many pics as possible to try and speed this up.

have been in sydney now for almost 2 weeks and am leaving for melbourne tomorrow which should be ace, make sure you leave a message here or email me and let me kow how you all are, my email is stamanfar@hotmail.com cheers chickens!

missing you all lots!

The birthday of the boy, Feb '06

2006-02-07T19:21:00.000Z

Did go to Lincoln for the weekend of the boy's birthday, these are just some of the pics... and i had a good time, despite Goldshites!

happy ali

steve and ben

mineself and the boy

this photo greatly portrays the standard of my vision by the end of the night...

N.Y.E 2005 / 2006!

2006-01-08T11:46:00.000Z

Well I did spend my new years eve in Bright-On again, at the lovely Donbons house with the lovelies Becky and Rhi and we did drink far too much and watch comedy DVDs and the hootenanny and made lots of moise and did James Blunt impressions and talked in phoney New Yoyk accents... Poifect ya shmuck!

And what would a night be without at least one sacrificial burning? ha ha.

this shitty artwork will keep us warm...

oh my god!

more pics on rhi's page which is here.

Mineself and Donbons lovely birthday par-tay...!

2005-11-22T18:25:00.000Z

Once upon a time there was a little village called Bright-on, and everything was sunny and happy in this little town...

Untill! The party of the year came to town! These are the pick of the pics from the night, thanks so much to everyone who came i had a great night! would be ace if i could remember some more of it! loadsa love xxx

monkey and me

how massive is my head compared to becky's? how weird is that?!

bugg, grant, shona, linz and nick

becky's sex shoes!

hannah and bex

mineself and monkey once more

a lot of drunken ladies

that would be the spirit of the dance... or something... me, bugg and grant.

shona and grant

"i'm a very cleaver boy!" said zippy...

ha ha ha ha ha... gotta love zippy... god rest his soul.

Happy Birthday to me...

2005-11-10T18:02:00.000Z

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me-eeeeeeeeee, Happy Birthday to.... me!

one week countdown to the party of the century...

Tory and Jason's Engagement Party, 1st Oct 2005!

2005-10-02T10:28:00.000Z

These are some lovely pictures of lovely Tory and Jason's engagement party what myself and monkey went to last night, it was great! Much drinking and cheerful hugs and elderly family members and tearful goodbyes... lovely.

Tory, Monkey and me

Tory and Jason

Monkey and Tory

Wowee, I have a clever friend! September 3rd 2005

2005-09-05T19:56:00.000Z

These are some of the more lovely pictures from last weekends trip to Brighton where we did celebrate Donnas handing in of her MA dissertation, clever lady!!

Donbon, myself... and the ghosts...

The picture above is very strange, Donna appears to have small people on her arm...

we three!

A picture taken on the train... classy!

who loves man juice? bugg loves man juice...

This is Buggs impression of the Milky Bar Kid at Zoot Street Bar drinking a White Russian... aherm... send your jokes to... lol

This is the legend of benicassim... everybody ready?

2005-08-12T21:09:00.000Z

Why hello there friends! I see you've once again made it to my little page in the hope that you will see pictures of yourself and feel just that little bit more famous... well you will not be dissappointed for here are the pictures of the leg-end that was 2005 Benicassim festival! Yippee I hear you cry! Yip-fuckin-ee!

So let us begin!
Myself and Becky and Monkey did go down to jolly old brighton to stay at Donbons house and we did go and paint the town a shade of red... we went to the arc and did boogie on down to lots of rock songs...

aw how hot do they look?! monkey, becky and donbon

who's for a cheesy chat up line, the kiss the point and the power grab... all classics

Monkey and Donbon at the Arc

Our weekend was fun and full of chatting and giggles, sadly it did not last long, but we then flew to Barcelona on monday morning and did catch a coach to the lovely town of Castellon, though this journey was less than fun what with silly little boys getting high on god knows what on the coach behind us, and with awfulawful thunder and lightening storms, which meant that upon arrival in Castellon we made the decision to check into a swanky hotel, rather than face the mud and risk death by torrent...

the rain! oh the rain....

plush hotel room... bedraggled stamanfar

Thankfully when we did awake the following morning nearly all of the rain had dried up and we could concern ourselves with eating as much as humanly possible at the hotel breakfast buffet (blood sausages aside) and made our way to Benicassim and to the campsite...

monkey looking like a rockstar at the campsite... check out the aaaawful tent behind!

The tent shown above was that of 2 jolly spanish guys, who delighted in taking the mic of us and boasting about how late they'd stayed up... how very rock and roll they were...

Personally I think we were more rock and roll, but hey...

Sangria is our friend!

gigantic beeeeer

lovely donbon at the campsite

I thought about reviewing everyone we saw but I shall not, and just reel off a few names for y'all, Polyphonic spree, who were greeeeat, Underworld, Lemony Jelly, The Cure (below)...

the dinner-lady himself... Robert Smith

...Kings of Convenience, Kaizer Chiefs,

this is us waiting for the Kaizer Chiefs, in a very sleepy and chilled out mood following the lovely Kings of Convenience, man those boys are cuuuute!

this is a very blurry Ricky Kaizer Chief... no really... it is

!!!, Hot Hot Heat, Mylo, Kasabian, and LCD Sound System...

ok i know its pretty rubbish but i really like this picture ok?! and its my site, so there! this is us watching HHH.

mylo...

So thats it, I guess there really isnt much more to say, aside from queing for hours to get a shower and being mocked by silly little english boys when we tried to get some sleep during the actual night (god forbid!) we had a pretty damn splendid time, with many stories to tell, none of which involve a giant ice cream... no... no they dont... ok?!?

love to you all xxxxxxxx

oh yeah... and the spanish mouse...

brother boolin enjoying the spanish mouse... happy in his new home back in England :) cheers monka

2005-07-02T10:00:00.000Z

This is a picture of Rhi doing what Rhi does best, I stole it from myspace, but we all miss her so I felt justified in doing it! lol

Hello everybody.... "Hello stam!"

2005-06-24T17:37:00.000Z

Hello everybody... are we sitting comfortably? I hope so... for I feel like having a ramble... and ramble I shall... in the most ramblesome manner known to humankind... How is everybody? Please make sure you leave a comment or keep in touch for I am missing you all terribly...

So so so so so, what have I been doing? Weeeeeeell, the weekend after I did go into lovely London, Myself and the Monkey went to the Isle of Wight Festival, which was pretty special, for a start we had none of this glasto weather business, only gorgeous sunshine for the whole weekend, so much so that we did get a spot of sunburn... but only a spot! We saw such great bands as Supergrass (who were ace), Idlewild, Razorlight (who were less than ace), Goldie Lookin Chain (you knows it), The Magic Numbers (fooking brilliant), Snow Patrol, and the allmighty REM. We had a pretty laid back time so missed a few bands, but it was great... We also spent much time in the strongbow rooms having a good boogie on down... People I implore you, you have to go... its like reading... but with far fewer chavs... though there are still a few... oh oh oh, and before I forget, you even get a free hand massage! Just ask Lesley!

So then I had to go back to work, which is amusing at the moment because I'm never sure if I'll get there or home again cos the trains are so fooked up...

And last weekend I went to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company, avec mes parents, and it was ace... except... mother somehow managed to get us tickets right in the front row... bang in the middle... some come the second half, when they were doing Hamlet... they needed an Ophelia... now this is a production with a lot of emphasis on audience participation... but my mother.. (God rest her soul... I had to kill her) well she neglected to tell me this piece of information. So these guys descended upon me... I was sat there with a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale in my mitts and no shoes on because I had sweaty feet it was so hot... so i had to fumble around and get my shoes on... my one task was to scream, as Ophelia does before she dies... he last line is basically just a scream... so all I had to do was scream... just scream... ok thats easy right? I was so rubbish... that... talented thespian that I am... I only got bloody heckled by some cow in the audience! "Can't hear you!" she said, "I'll do it" she said! So anyway, yeah...

the point was this... I kinda think its impossible for anyone with the slightest notion of romance in their body to read Shakespeare and not want to be one of the characters... I have read Hamlet countless times, and imagined all the differnt things you could do with it... some kind of captive director's spirit in my brain somewhere... and i finally get to act out the part of Ophelia... well... kinda... whatever...

So now... now i am telling you this... it is a friday night and i have no plans apart from to laugh at the poeple who thought they were "oh so hip" with their impossible to come by glasto tickets, as I watch from the comfort of my bed... everybody say "aaaahhhhhh... toasty warm!"

If anybody is interested, I am toying with the idea of that festival that is August bank holiday weekend at kings cross... TDK Cross Central... we have... Goldfrapp, The Bees, Tom (you set the fire in me) Vek, The Magic Numbers (yay!), Mr Scruff, Mylo, Felix da Housecat and uhhhh... stuff... if anyone fancies it then let me know...

if not there is talk of the Notting Hill Carnival.. either way its all good.

Ok ok so i hear the shuffling of little bottoms, I can tell you're getting bored...

just one last thing, get in touch, I miss you, any offers of drinking greatly recieved!

Bye bye bye bye by by b

x x x

lovely london!

2005-06-06T17:31:00.000Z

Donbon and Becky at the Underworld, looking foxy as can be...

Here are some lovly pictures of last weekend when we went and stayed in Becky's (massive) new flat and did drink and did boogie our little shiny shoes off... well... i did anyways!

who's drunk?! we's drunk!

mad mad donbon and me

hey hey!

2005-05-13T18:55:00.000Z

Thought I'd post a shout out to all ye monkey lovers out there, and let you know what has/is going on in the world.

I have been busy, yes yes, but some of you know that, and I havent posted any pics for flippin ages so I'm gonna write it all.

16/4/5 I met Rhiannon in London and we did nearly get caught in a group of rioting football hooligans, at 9:30am! Then we went and relaxed in the Tate and had luncheon in Camden market, t'was a lovely day, and the last time I shall see Rhiannon in bloomin' ages as she is jetting off to Slovinia this weekend, I talked to her a little while ago and she sounded slightly scared, but we all know she'll have a great time.

29/4/5 I went into Londinium and saw Donbon and Becky and we went and saw the Mr Scruffness, was all good, though packed, and reggae fuelled, which was weird, we left pretty early. Then on saturday morning we did go to a lovely little cafe before saying goodbye to Becky ad Jason. Me and Donbon did then go a shoppin' in the lovely market, I did buy a lovely jacket, and then we rested our poor little feets in the pub over a few beers.

Then last Thursday me and Matt and Donbon were supposed to be seeing the mighty Foo Fighters at the BBC for Top of the Pops, but alas David of Grohl was being lame and they cancelled, it was rubbash... though Donna decided to come up and stay at the weekend and we had a debauched Saturday night in Bedford instead, full of vodka and snogging...

So now I am resting, for I have been a busy monkey, I have even managed to get another poem published in all this time! Les is applying for teacher training and has quit her job in favour of Benicassim (of course) and Donbon is flying high with her MA, she got a B+ the other day... thats almost an A! Tory is swimming with the fishes. Catherine has got a job working on an island with birds all summer. And me, well I'm trying to find someone to come to Cornwall and see Billy Bragg with me on May 26th, for I now have a spare ticket, and am not really sure what to do.

Also looking forward to the Isle of Wight festival which will be ace, and obviously, the legend that is Benicassim!

So, I bid ye all farewell for now... but I shall return!

"Blessed be the man who invented the bank holiday" Easter Weekend in Bournemouth...

2005-03-28T18:52:00.000Z

waiting for monkey... in a big mirror in topshop

These are a selection of pictures what i taked this easter bank holiday weekend in the mouth of Bourne, they are rather random in nature, but lovely all the same.... this one is especially random as it was taken in a big mirror in the shop they call top...

please make comments and make me feel less alone! or something... love ya guys x

2005-03-28T18:50:00.000Z

monkey and donna

2005-03-28T18:48:00.000Z

lovely Donbon... mark 2

2005-03-28T18:43:00.000Z

lovely Donna and Kev

2005-03-28T18:39:00.000Z

Caz and Aige

2005-03-28T18:36:00.000Z

me and fran

crisis in blogg land

2005-02-21T19:23:00.000Z

It has come to my attention that there has been a crisis in blogg land, that is, nobody has been able to post because they have forgotten their passwords, or blogger is refusing to believe that their password is correct...

i have now remedied this and made the blogg open to anyone, so you no longer need to put your password in, no excuses now guys! blogs ahoy!... or something...

love y'all x x x

Monday 14th February '05... valentine free zone...

2005-02-16T18:53:00.000Z

a big egg made of trees...

Ah yes, what a lovely day it was too... myself and the delightful rhiannonny (see delightful picture below) did have an excursion once more to the delightful village of londinium... the above picture is rhi stood next to a large egg shaped thing made of trees by artist andy goldsworthy, as we went to see his exhibition in the tragically poor area of south kensington...

we then travelled to camden once more to drink beers in the worlds end... again...

...the final picture in this group is of the lovely patrick wolf, who we saw on monday night... much fun was had... what a lovely day!

And now i am back at work... delightful indeed...

2005-02-16T18:51:00.000Z

lovely rhi...in the sun... in battersea park...

2005-02-16T18:49:00.000Z

Patrick Wolf

Saturday 12th February '05, "The hip and happening trip to Londinium!"

2005-02-13T13:48:00.000Z

oceans 4...

(left to right: mr misery, the vandal squirrel, grant and the buggsludge) so here we are... these are the photos of, and i quote rhiannon, "our hip and happening trip" aka "the beautiful people in london... darling" yes yes yes... much fun was to be had in the delightfully dirty yet charming city...

This photo here is a photo taken near the end of our excursion, as all photos are in reverse order from the top... uhhhhm...

2005-02-13T13:47:00.000Z

i do not know what is happening in this picture...

...but its a good one! uhhhhm, this is in the worlds end in camden where we resided for the best part of the evening drinking beers and talking to strange irish men... the main reason for putting this picture up is that bugg has his cigarette the wrong way up... well done bugg... once again you've proved not to be the sharpest tool in the box... (mainly cos its full of smarties)

2005-02-13T13:43:00.000Z

me and grant... slightly inebriated... with the ramones!

2005-02-13T13:41:00.000Z

in the worlds end...

this picture was taken while floating on the ceiling... or something...

2005-02-13T13:40:00.000Z

buggsludge and grant at charing cross station

2005-02-13T13:37:00.000Z

rhi and don bon in... a tube station... guess which one?!

this picture was taken shortly after our immense dinner of chinese in camden market... donna is showing off her spangly new phone strap... which has hello kitty on and lights up when your phone rings... utterly pointless... but we love it!

Alas

2005-02-09T18:28:00.000Z

Another Official Statement

Alas, boys and girls, les "da" monkey has been taken ill, and will not be joining us on our weekend gadabout...

let us mourn our loss...

not that she's daed... she's just ill... not dead at all...

good bike x

Willy Mason at the enterprise

2005-02-04T18:59:00.000Z

matt and james... admiring willy...

so i thought i would share with you two delightful photos, the first of Benicassim James and my bro Matt at the enterprise last night admiring Willy Mason... who was grand... the second is of Willy himself... ain't he pretty?! uhhhm... lots of things happened yesterday... i also met Colin Murray of colin-and-edith fame... he was lovely and also pretty... though i think its fair to say that neither him nor Willy were overwhelmed by my beauty...

Next week me and monkey are seeing Jack Dee... so there may be some pics to go up of that...

Matt has also managed to bag us tickets to see never mind the buzzcocks being filmed... so that will be great...

and the benicassim crew are getting together next weekend so there is lots happening in the world of sam... not that you really care but i just thought i'd spill it...

now scroll down and stare at willy...

(a phrase i never thought i'd hear myself say...)

2005-02-04T18:58:00.000Z

that'd be willy...

Friday 7th January 2005, Jenny/Alex's bithday/Jennys moving get-together.

2005-01-10T18:50:00.000Z

t'was windy...

uh... i'm not entirely sure what is going on in this picture but i do know that is was windy and that jenny is NOT in fact wearing a ra-ra skirt... linz... if you ever see this please remind me why nick is carrying you in such a fashion... as i have forgetted...

2005-01-10T18:46:00.000Z

in t'hobgoblin...

2005-01-10T18:44:00.000Z

dodgy dancing in the hob...

this is a lovely picture of lindseys breasts as she danced in the hob... and how she danced... with a plethora of boys following her... the faces you cannae see are in no particular order, grant, alex, nick... and... uh... i'm not sure...

2005-01-10T18:04:00.000Z

jenny and alex

New Years Eve 2004/2005

2005-01-10T17:38:00.000Z

these are no ordinary shoes...

no no no my friends... they are in fact... ICE SKATES! mine and rhiannons ice skates in fact... the slightly damp... always a bit warm... ice skates... and we went skating for new years eve, to the uplifting accompanyment of welsh folk act there be dragons! ah yes... much fun was had... so come on... what did y'all get up to new years? eh? eh? do tell...

2004-12-28T12:06:00.000Z

check out my new trainers!

yes yes i know, none of you actually care about my new trainers, this is only temporary... just wanted to show everyone because they are great...hope y'all had the best christmas, post a comment and tell the world what you got... (or at least... the small group of us that actually come here) and if you have any pics, email me and i will put them up, loadsa love guys xxx

NOTICE...

2004-12-19T18:47:00.000Z

Please note that i have been forced to take down pictures entitled "The Pokemon Duvet" and "Rhi on the beach" due to lack of comments...

may i also remind people that insults are forbidden... especially those which liken certain beautiful monkeys to fritha crosby...

oh and buggafella... i have found a photo of you for us all to marvel at but misfortunately my scanner appears to be broken thus it will be up when i have fixed it... or we shall wait untill i sees you...

i go now...

good bike x

2004-12-07T21:07:00.000Z

rhi and monkey at lemon jelly at the eden project... courtesy of tomearse the homoboy...

uhhhhh... welcome to me!

2004-12-07T03:20:00.000Z

me (boobage?!?)

sorry this pic is sideways... i'm not very good at this...

2004-12-06T19:03:00.000Z

lovely rhi

2004-12-06T19:00:00.000Z

me and donbon in the arc, brighton

2004-12-06T18:53:00.000Z

lovely dancing

2004-12-06T18:42:00.000Z

lovely don bon

2004-12-06T18:36:00.000Z

me...

2004-10-05T03:04:00.000Z

2004-10-04T20:36:00.000Z

me and monkey at graduation.. in stoopid robes