A Film in the Sunshine.

Last night my friend H and I went to Brum to catch an outdoor film showing of Breakfast At Tiffany's. It was a free event in the lovely Brindley Place and the organisers handed out bean bags, free popcorn and blankets to the crowd.  It was a different way to spend the evening, sitting on the steps in the shade watching a film, especially one I haven't seen in years!

I have another fairly busy weekend coming up with my Boss's leaving do on Friday and some drinks in Brum with H on Saturday, starting off at Marco Pierre Whites for some cocktails.

I've also finally been back to the gym this week after a few weeks off due to my inner ear problems which thankfully seem to have cleared up.  Good times! :-)

Hello Thirties!

Well, here I am blogging from the ripe old age of 30 and two days! Whilst I'm struggling to come to terms with the fact I've already used up half my time off work, my two days of being thirty haven't been too shabby!

I received this wonderful little beast for my birthday. He's an HP Envy X2 which is a convertible tablet/laptop.  He comes with Windows 8 and so far I'm loving it! The little compartments are perfect for my organised brain; everything is easy to hand and in the right place.  It doesn't come with a great deal of storage as it's only a mini PC by all accounts, however considering I only really use my laptop for internet access anyway, I'm pretty happy this is going to replace it nicely.

 

In addition to this, I have been given money to spend on the obligatory accessories for the above! I bought Windows Office for it and finally managed to download it successfully after Microsoft managed to block three separate bank cards and screw up three transactions.  Idiots. Still, he's all up and running and I'm using him now to blog this very post! Looking forward to getting his case through the post so that he can be fully mobile!

 

I have also been treated to a years Gym membership at Virgin Health club, which I am both chuffed and slightly nervous about! It's perfect for me in order to complete my Resolution to be more active.  Come the first of April, there'll be no more excuses not to get there and get fit.  It couldn't have come at a better time.  I also received two tickets to see Derren Brown in May! Woot!

 

I was treated to a beautiful meal at Malmaison in Birmingham which started with Mal Lollipops (Tempura Prawn, Marinated Chicken, Tai Fishcake, Tai Pork and Crab Spring Roll- all on handy sticks!) with dipping sauces; followed by Coq au Vin with potato and turnip gratin and purple broccoli; finishing with Mal-athon bar slices with Milk Ice Cream completed with a truly delectable Black Forest Cocktail.  It was simply devine... with some truly lovely company to boot; I couldn't have had a better thirtieth birthday evening. :-)

 

I have a busy week lined up- with more birthday celebrations tomorrow when I meet some work colleagues in town for cocktails, champagne and another slap up meal on Wednesday; and then drinks on Thursday with a friend;  a haircut, visit to Jamies Italian and the Electric on Friday and the finale is on Saturday night for drinks with chums in Brum and then onto Eddies which will conclude my week long birthday celebrations.

 

BOOM. :-)

(Can you fill the silence?)

 

Bastille 09.03.13

It's been a while since I walked through Digbeth; a place of potholed streets and shabby chic, where the indie scene breathes through vintage shops and traditional crumbly brick pubs.  It was here I joined a queue of inappropriately dresssed young people to see Bastille.  I'd like to point out that although I am close enough to my disappearing youth to remember being 16, I am now old enough to appreciate an adequate number of layers when it's freezing outside.  I don't, therefore, consider wearing a coat to a gig at which I have to queue outside for about 40minutes to be too much of a hardship even if I do have to carry it while I'm in there. 

Once in the warmth of The (HMV) Institute, I joined the small crowd gathering near the stage.  It was only when the first distinctly average, but not overly offensive support act started to play that I realised I was stuck standing behind the worlds tallest man.  By the time the second act had started- a carbon copy of Florence and The Machine- again, not rubbish but entirely forgettable because it had all been done before, I realised I was standing next to a woman whose posterior seemed to have a circumference of saturns rings. At one point, she started dancing and if I hadn't been wedged in, I'm pretty sure I'd have been bounced out of the venue and back to the Bullring. 

The Tall Giant man kindly moved aside and I squeezed in to see the stage for the first time for Bastille's hour long set.  I've been a fan of theirs since I heard Flaws just over a year ago on Alex Baker's Kerrang show.  I have him to thank for Maybshewill and Awolnation also.  I think I have all their music, two albums being released for free by the band despite the sound quality being poor.  I'm always appreciative of originality in music wether I like it or not, especially these days because it's so rare.  I remember being struck by Bastille because I couldn't lable them, I couldn't fit them to a genre, and still can't really.  Their love of rythmn really speaks to me and as such I've been a fan of theirs from the get go.  I had been worried that Bastille wouldn't live up to my expectations live since they rely on a lot of digital layers but my concerns were proved wrong immediately.  On the contrary, they sounded fantastic and didn't disappoint.  They played an absolutely blinding set and I was glad to have caught them at a time when they were still humbled and dumbfounded by their newfound fame and success.  They struck me as down to earth and genuine.  It was even nice to see Dan's amazingly upright hair gradually flatten throughout the night.  A truly great night... with each song played met with mass enthusiasm from a young crowd.  I was just really pleased for them and happy to see truly fresh, creativity in the heart of Birmingham. 

 

"It is not enough to be dumbstruck"