This journal is not a private diary, it is more like an occasional, imaginary column. Therefore, most of it is on public display. However, if you want to read my occasional attempts at creative writing, my Caution Elf tells me I should only show that stuff to my friends. You know what to do. :-)

NB: If you add me in an unsolicited fashion, please introduce yourself. Otherwise I will probably ignore you. ;-)

search engine submission

What is it, what is it with Metal bands and their ceaseless quest for truly awful band names?! Perhaps it is just me (I have to admit, conjuring up names and album/song titles for terrible fictional bands is an occasional silly pastime of mine, so I suppose I ought to know a very bad band name when I encounter one!), but really… I am not sure I could walk on to a stage and say something like, “Good evening Bournemouth, we’re Gangrenous Extremity, and we’re here to ROCK!!!” without either turning pink with embarrassment or bursting out laughing. XD

( Hyperbolic Pessimism? )

Just now I was reading an online article about some guy who used to be in the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, when my eye was drawn to a link at the side of the page.  In a moment of temporary dyslexia I thought it said "Lynton Goat Cult?"

Ooh, goes my tawdry little mind.  Goat cult, eh? *click*

( Cemetery Goats! )

After reading a recent entry in vanityflair's journal, concerning some recent unflattering comments regarding Kelly Clarkson's refreshingly non-skeletal figure, I happened upon this article on the Daily Telegraph website.  To summarise: in an Australian study where men were shown drawings of female figures of various different shapes and sizes, the pictures representing the average Australian woman (who apparently equates to a UK size 14) were rated as the most attractive - beating the ratings of various examples of professional models (e.g. skinny high fashion types and pneumatic-but-slender glamour models), along with (I quote!) "Australian escorts advertising on the internet". o__O

( Size of status: inversely proportional to size of waist? )

Yesterday, finding myself with some time to kill, I watched the movie of ‘Twilight’.  My verdict?  A big fat “Huh????  Why on earth is this so popular?” o__O

( I'd put 'possible spoilers' but that seems rather redundant...! )

Yes, I am Still Alive...

...I just haven't posted anything for a good while.

My personal life has become very busy and exciting, but I'm far too superstitious to write about it. ;-)

I can tell you, though, that - amongst other exciting things - I have been Rescuing Many Invertebrates!! :-D

( Encounters with Arthropods )

Yes, you read me right: Wow!  M. is impressed! :-)

A large chunk of yesterday found me investigating POPOL VUH.

( The song your mind sings when it's happy )

[Note just prior to posting: woah, this entry has meandered considerably from its starting point.  I might even let myself use the word 'random' for this one!!]

Good evening, LJ!

Greetings (a little belatedly...) to you all on the occasion of the Vernal Equinox! :-)

Spring is springing, it seems.

(Boing.)

( Danger Of Miscellany, Enter At Own Risk )

I absolutely love my local library.

( Some drivel about the place where all the books live together in happy harmony. ^_^ )

I picked up this book and simply had to borrow it.

( The craziest literary form ever?! )

Ok.  Enough from me.  Have a great day everyone! ^__^

Spotted chez zephonator, it is the Last.fm meme!

( Comme d'habitude... )

Ladies, gentlemen, et cetera: AT LAST tickets are on sale for RIOfest! :-)

I ordered my 3-day pass last evening! :-) :-)

*does happy dance*

*pirouettes until dizzy*

*sits down, feels better*

*...Oh, Yes.  Is V. Excited!*

On the bill: Magma (<3), Univers Zero, Present (the latter two bands are going to unite for a mega-finale!), Koenji Hyakkei, Charles Hayward, and various others - including some sort of jazz ensemble featuring Philippe Bussonnet on 'bass guitar and effects'.

I wasn't completely sure whether or not to go; originally the festival was scheduled for April, but had to be postponed until September - not very long after my wedding, in fact.  Well, I consulted my wonderful fiancé, who took one look at me and said, all smiles and kindness, "...I think you should go."  (I must say, it is marvellous to be with someone who, instead of looking askance at my taste and saying "That's rubbish, you're insane" etc., etc., is overjoyed to see me happy, enthusiastic and excited about such things, even if he doesn't share my musical preferences! ^_^)

He is going to come with me to France, but not to the festival itself.  It seems to be in a picturesque area with various things to explore, so I don't think he'll be bored.  Maybe we can stay for a few extra days so as to... enjoy one another's company a little. ^_^

Yeah.  A Honeymoon in RIO I am having!!

*collapses*

Here are some photos from 13th February!
( Ikonographie... )

I’ll sequester this fan-drivel under a cosy LJ-cut to spare your eyes!

( Roll of honour... )

After that onslaught of Blitzfunk bombast, and an interval, it was time for Magma!  I must note here that the interval was made memorable on the 13th by the inevitable visit to the Ladies’, where I discovered one of the benefits of being a girl at a progressive rock concert: hardly any queue for the loos.  In fact, in a classic demonstration of Parisian impatience and bravado, some of the men were using the Ladies’.  Two of them conversed with me in French, although I’m sorry to say it was not a thrilling exchange of witty toilet-related repartee: one of them took it upon himself to justify his presence in the feminine holy of holies; the other chivalrously allowed me to go ahead of him in the queue.

After I’d got back to my seat in the auditorium, my shy next-neighbour reappeared with the results of a shopping expedition: a Zeuhl pendant, which he put on in readiness for la séance; and the ‘Studio Zünd’ box set.  I silently wished him ‘happy listening’.

(On the 14th, during the interval, I found myself in the slightly undignified position of sitting there in my Magma finery, eating a Magnum ice-cream-on-a-stick.  The uncomfortable thought flashed through my mind that was I not, as I sat there, bedizened with Zeuhl Griffes and attempting not to get chocolate down my décolletage, the very incarnation of a teen-aged music snob’s wet dream?!  For some moments I felt extremely self-conscious!  Look, just you try and eat one of those things politely without inadvertently re-enacting a Cadbury’s Flake ad…)

( Ok, enough twittering - here's where we get Serious. )

First we were treated to a performance of Jannick Top’s ‘Infernal Machina’ (the title of which gives me an instant mental image of a demonically-possessed vacuum cleaner! Sorry…). Now, you’ll have to forgive me for saying this, but I tend to feel that Jannick only really has one tune in him, and that tune (if ‘tune’ is even the right word…) is ‘De Futura’. Let’s just say that ‘Infernal Machina’ induces a certain feeling of… how can I put this… déjà entendu! Not only does ‘De Futura’ get a bit of a reprise, there are also quotations from other Magma pieces in there. That’s not to say that it’s not worth listening to, but it has this inescapable aroma of ‘Zeuhl Greatest Hits Medley’, if such a concept is humanly possible! (Imagine an unholy alliance between Wahrgenuhr Reugëhlëm /ëstëh and Jive Bunny…) I am happy to say, however, that it was much more enjoyable live than it is on the CD.

( Blitzfunk Bombast!! )

Well now, enough rambling.  On with a proper account of the concerts themselves.  Can I just say to anyone reading this who has seen Magma fifty-three times and is used to the experience and can view such performances with a more detached, critical eye… it was my first time. ^_^  Please, therefore, excuse any excess of superlatives.

Three 40th Anniversary concerts were scheduled to take place – I couldn’t make the first one on the 12th, but I absolutely had to be there for the second and last!  The set list was exactly the same both nights, so I won’t repeat myself by doing two separate reviews: instead I’ll just concentrate on the actual pieces played, with the occasional aside re. the specifics on particular nights.

( Marvellous Magmatic Minutiae )

Declaration/Warning: I am an unashamed, unapologetic MAGMA FREAK.  I completely LOVE this music… on practically every level.  For me, it’s the most exciting, rousing, beautiful and – yes, really – moving, uplifting, occasionally transcendent, even spiritual, music I’ve ever heard.  You wouldn’t want to read a lengthy analysis of why it makes me feel so strongly, and why it became, within seconds of my first hearing it, such an important accompaniment to my life, so I won’t inflict that on you.

( Instead, I'll inflict this rrrrramblement! )

Augh, my word!!  Writing up my account of the two Magma concerts I attended in Paris has been FAR more difficult than I ever imagined.  There was SO much I could have written, but felt reluctant to inflict on a bemused world.  Trying to keep it as brief as possible, whilst still keeping in as many as possible of those whimsical little observational details that bring such entries to life, trying to get the tone right - some kind of balance between enraptured fan-drooling and self-deprecation, studious hypothesising and humorous silliness... oof. x__X  HARD WORK!!

Anyway... I'm about to start posting it all - it's LONG, despite my efforts at curtailing its further reaches - and I will do so in several posts, so as to avoid giving anybody an eyestrain...

My sincere apologies for neglecting the ol' f'list of late - after Paris I had a rather busy week, involving wedding arrangements, and delicious Davidness. ^_^  There will be a travelogue entry at some point (most likely friends-locked!) to recap non-Magma-related Paris stuff, and anything else that seems like it wants to be written about.  NOTA BENE: I have read through my entire friends' list, but have not had time to make comments.  Please be assured that I'm up to date with your scribblings, and will get back to voicing my opinions very shortly!!

In conclusion: I skipped dinner to get this beast of a multiple post slain!  I hope it's not too dull for you all...! o__O

Ooooh, so pretty! :-)  Today we had 'proper snow' at last, and so I took some pictures on my way to work...


( Put on your snowboots and come with me... )

Something I've been meaning to write about on here for a while is what you might call ‘found sounds’.  Sounds – noises, really – that you hear sort of incidentally, as you are going about your daily round of activities... sounds that were never intended as an entertainment commodity... sounds that are only incidental to some activity or other, that were not made on purpose… and yet they sound, maybe only for the briefest, most fleeting instant, like music.

( Arf, She Said )

This moment of convoluted introspection was brought to you by a combination of boredom and low blood sugar.  Time for some food now…